Bangladesh elections: All you need to know about key players, parties

The BNP, led by Tarique Rahman, and the Jamaat-e-Islami are seen as frontrunners, with the student-led NCP in distant third. The Awami League is barred from contesting

After 18 months of being under an interim government, Bangladesh will hold parliamentary elections on Thursday, marking the first national vote since the dramatic August 2024 collapse of Sheikh Hasina’s government, which had been in power since 2008.

 

Hasina managed to escape a mob that attacked her residence — and later Parliament — and fled to India, where she has been living since. She was tried in absentia in a Dhaka court in November 2025 and sentenced to death for “crimes against humanity” in the course of her suppression of student-led protests against her rule.

 

Polling for the 13th parliamentary elections will start at 7.30 a.m. and go on till 4.30 p.m. in 299 constituencies, with voting in one seat cancelled following the death of a candidate. The polling will coincide with a referendum on the July National Charter, an 84-point framework that seeks to enact constitutional, electoral, and administrative reforms. 

Who are the main contestants in Bangladesh’s election?

Since Hasina's exit, Bangladesh’s political landscape has changed dramatically. Her once-dominant party, the Awami League, was banned last year by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus’ interim administration and is barred from contesting the polls.

 

The contest has narrowed down to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its former partner, the Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI). Tarique Rahman, son of former Bangladeshi prime minister Khaleda Zia, is heading the BNP’s campaign, with some observers suggesting he could emerge as the country’s next prime minister.

 

Following Zia’s death in December 2025, Rahman assumed the role of BNP chairperson upon returning to Bangladesh from exile in London. Zia had planned to contest from three constituencies. Rahman returned to Bangladesh during the same period after 17 years in exile in London — where he lived to avoid numerous criminal investigations opened against him in Bangladesh during Hasina's rule — to spearhead the party’s election campaign. All cases against him have been dropped since the Awami League's ouster from power.

 

While the BNP, a coalition of 10 parties, is being projected as the leading party, many of its candidates are contesting as independents or through local arrangements, the Dhaka Tribune has reported. A party spokesperson said the BNP’s immediate priority was “protecting votes on the ground” rather than projecting national momentum.

 

On the other hand, the Jamaat-e-Islami is leading an 11-party alliance that includes the National Citizen Party (NCP), led by students who were prominent in the 2024 anti-Hasina protests. The campaign is being led by 67-year-old Shafiqur Rahman, who has set out his party’s vision for a “New Bangladesh”, pledging to protect democratic rights if elected, the Dhaka Tribune said.

 

Prothom Alo, a leading Bangladeshi paper whose offices were attacked in December, on Monday reported that a new poll showed the BNP and JeI in a neck-to-neck race to the finish line. It quoted a survey conducted by the International Institute of Law and Diplomacy (IILD), with technical support from Projection BD and Jagaran Foundation, as showing the BNP alliance winning 44.1 per cent of the vote, with the JeI breathing down its neck with 43.9 per cent.

 

How has Bangladesh tightened security for the polls?

Bangladesh's electoral body currently stands at 127.7 million, with first-time voters accounting for about 3.58 per cent. In another first, nearly 800,000 registered expatriate Bangladeshis will be able to cast ballots through an IT-based postal system, the report added.

 

In total, 1,755 candidates from 50 parties and 273 independents are in the fray. The BNP has fielded 291 candidates, the most among all parties.

 

Nearly one million security personnel have been deployed, according to officials. Inspector General of Police Baharul Alam earlier said 24,000 of almost 43,000 polling stations were considered "high" or "moderate" risk. Police assessments showed 1,614 of Dhaka’s 2,131 centres as risk-prone, while the army identified two centres in the capital as "risky", reported PTI.

 

Election Commissioner Abul Fazal Mohammad Sanaullah said drones and body-worn cameras are being used for the first time. Around 25,000 body cameras will be deployed, some capable of live streaming, alongside CCTV coverage at more than 90 per cent of the country’s 42,659 polling centres.

 

"The election will be completed as promised to the people. Extensive security and coordination arrangements are in place with the support of law enforcement agencies and the government," Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin has said.

 

He added that the participation of media and observers will play a significant role in ensuring maximum transparency and public trust in this election.