Bangladesh holds first election since 2024 uprising

Thursday 12 February 2026 - 18:50

By: Dakir Madiha

Bangladesh holds first election since 2024 uprising

Bangladeshis are voting Thursday in the country’s first national election since the student led uprising of 2024 that forced former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from power. More than 127 million voters are eligible to cast ballots across 299 constituencies, choosing between the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and an alliance led by Jamaat e Islami, while Hasina’s Awami League remains barred from participating.

The election is being held alongside a referendum on the July Charter, a proposed package of constitutional reforms that would introduce a lifetime limit of 10 years for prime ministers and expand presidential powers. Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate heading the interim government since Hasina’s removal, urged voters earlier this week to back the charter, saying a yes vote would help shape Bangladesh’s future in a more positive direction.

The political landscape has been reshaped since mass protests erupted in July 2024 over public sector job quotas and escalated into a nationwide uprising. A United Nations report estimated that up to 1,400 people were killed in the crackdown between July 15 and August 5, 2024, when Hasina fled to India. The interim authorities subsequently banned the Awami League under anti terrorism legislation and suspended its electoral registration.

With the Awami League sidelined, the contest has narrowed to the BNP, now led by Tarique Rahman following the death of his mother and former prime minister Khaleda Zia in December 2025, and an 11 party coalition headed by Jamaat e Islami. Rahman returned to Bangladesh in late 2025 after 17 years in self imposed exile in London. He has pledged economic reforms, anti corruption measures and a recalibration of the country’s international partnerships.

The BNP has fielded 291 candidates, while Jamaat e Islami has nominated 229 within its coalition. A December survey by the International Republican Institute showed the BNP leading with 30 percent support compared with 26 percent for Jamaat, though 18 percent of respondents said they were undecided.

Security has been tightened on an unprecedented scale. Authorities have deployed nearly 958,000 members of the security forces nationwide in what officials describe as the largest mobilization in Bangladesh’s electoral history. Police Inspector General Baharul Alam said 24,000 of the nearly 43,000 polling centers have been classified as high risk. Drones and body worn cameras are being used for the first time to monitor voting, and about 90 percent of polling stations are equipped with closed circuit television coverage.

The election also marks the first use of postal voting in Bangladesh, allowing citizens living abroad to participate. More than 500,000 expatriates have already cast ballots through the Postal Vote BD application, and over 1.5 million voters at home and overseas are registered in the postal system.

Polling is scheduled from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in 299 constituencies, with voting in one seat postponed following the death of a candidate. For nearly five million first time voters and many who took part in the 2024 protests, the election is seen as a test of whether demands for democratic reform can be realized through the ballot box.

In a televised address at the close of campaigning, Yunus called on rival candidates to place national interest above personal or partisan considerations regardless of the outcome.