Hasina secures landslide victory in polls; CEC rules out holding fresh election in B'desh

The much-anticipated battle between Bangladesh's "battling begums" is over with Sheikh Hasina trouncing her arch-rival Khaleda Zia to lead her Awami League to a landslide victory for a record third consecutive term in a controversial general election, an outcome that would be a good news for India's ties with Dhaka, especially on the national security front.

The Awami League-led grand alliance won 288 seats in the 300-member Parliament, Election Commission secretary Helaluddin Ahmed said, after counting of votes in the elections that was marred by deadly violence.

The ruling alliance, which got nearly 82 per cent of the total votes polled, bettered its previous best performance of 2008 when it bagged 263 seats.

The opposition Jatiya Oikya Front - National Unity Front (NUF) - secured seven seats with over 15 per cent of the votes, Ahmed said, adding that others won three seats.

Voting was postponed in one constituency and result not declared in another due to the death of a candidate, he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Hasina over phone on her victory in the elections and assured her of India's continued support to Bangladesh's developmental strides.

India's ties with Bangladesh under Hasina's rule grew steadily. The last few years have been a "golden chapter" in India-Bangladesh relationship when complicated issues of land and coastal boundaries were resolved.

Bangladesh has also assured India that it will not allow its soil to be used for any terrorist activities against the neighbouring country. The two countries share a 4,096-km border.

Commenting on the results, 71-year-old Hasina said the Awami League-led Grand Alliance's win in the election is another victory for the people of the country in December - the month of victory.

She was apparently referring to Bangladesh's (then East Pakistan) victory over West Pakistan (now Pakistan) in the country's independence war in December, 1971.

Hasina said the victory is nothing for her for personal gains, rather it is a great responsibility towards the country and its people.

While Hasina was seeking re-election for an overall fourth term as the prime minister, her 73-year-old arch-rival Zia of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), who is reportedly partially paralysed, faces an uncertain future in a Dhaka jail where she is lodged after her conviction in corruption cases.

Meanwhile, the opposition NUF rejected the results and urged the Election Commission to immediately scrap the "farcical election" and hold a fresh one under a non-partisan interim government.

"You (the EC) must cancel this election right away. We reject the so-called results and demand a new election under a neutral government," NUF chief and veteran lawyer Kamal Hossain said.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, who steered the party in the absence of Zia, described the polls as a "cruel farce". He said the elections proved that free and fair polls were not possible under a partisan government.

The BNP's decision to stay away from the general election five years ago was not wrong, he said.

The NUF is a coalition of opposition parties such as the BNP, Gono Forum, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal-JSD, Nagorik Oikya and Krishak Sramik Janata League.

Bangladesh's Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda, however, ruled out any scope of holding fresh election as demanded by opposition alliance, saying the allegations of ballot stuffing on the night before election is "completely untrue."