Dhaka, 13 Feb

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) on Friday claimed victory in the crucial general elections, marred by sporadic incidents of violence, to elect a new government to replace the interim administration, which took charge after the fall of the Awami League regime in August 2024.

"The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is set to form the government after victory in the majority of seats," BNP's media cell posted on ‘X’.

The Election Commission (EC) is yet to make a formal announcement.

According to multiple media reports, EC is expected to declare BNP the winner in the general elections with tallies in predawn hours on Friday, suggesting it got majority seats in parliament.

Different media tallies suggested BNP received more than 151 seats in the 300-seat parliament on Thursday’s daylong voting, fair enough to form the next government, ending the 18-month rule of Muhammad Yunus-led interim government.

According to an EC spokesperson, the results in several seats are still being processed and are likely to be announced in a few hours.

The congratulatory messages have already started pouring in for the BNP, while the EC is yet to announce the official results.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Tarique Rahman on his “decisive victory” in Bangladesh's parliamentary elections and said he looked forward to working with him to advance common development goals.

“I convey my warm congratulations to Mr. Tarique Rahman on leading BNP to a decisive victory in the Parliamentary elections in Bangladesh,” Modi said in a post on X.

Modi said Rahman’s victory showed the trust of the people of Bangladesh in his leadership.

The US Embassy in Dhaka has congratulated the people ofBangladesh in advance on what it described as a successful national election, extending special recognition to BNP and Rahman for their "historic victory."

 “Congratulations to the people of Bangladesh on a successful election and to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Tarique Rahman on your historic victory. The United States looks forward to working with you to realise shared goals of prosperity and security for both our countries,” the post read.

The election was seen as a direct contest between the BNP and its former ally Jamaat-e-Islami, in the absence of ousted premier Sheikh Hasina's now debarred Awami League.

The voting for the 13th parliamentary elections was held along with a referendum on the implementation of a complex 84-point reform package, known as the July National Charter.

BNP was in power last time between 2001 and 2006 when Jamaat was its crucial partner, with two of its leaders serving as ministers.

Jamaat has raised allegations of "abnormal delays" and "result tampering," warning that it would launch a tough movement if the public mandate were "snatched away".

Speaking to reporters at the Election Commission building early morning, Jamaat’s assistant secretary general Ahsanul Mahboob Zubair alleged that returning officers were intentionally delaying results to favour a "particular party."

"In the seats contested by our top leaders, results should have been declared by 8 pm or 9 pm according to the signed sheets given to polling agents," Zubair said.

  Jamaat’s major ally in an 11-party right-wing alliance, the National Citizen Party (NCP), floated with interim government chief Muhammad Yunus last year, also brought allegations of “result tampering and planned fraud” in multiple Dhaka seats in particular.

"Psychological pressure and administrative manipulation were being used to overturn results, particularly in constituencies contested by top leaders of the Jamaat-led 11-party alliance," NCP spokesman and party’s election committee chairman Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuiyan said in a predawn briefing.

Bhuiiyan, who until recently served as an adviser or minister in Yunus’ interim cabinet, particularly alleged discrepancies in a Dhaka constituency, claiming that although NCP candidate Nahid Islam was leading by nearly 6,000 votes, the returning officer showed a margin of only 1,500 votes in the seat.

The BNP had earlier announced that if it wins the election, then its chairman and former premier Khaleda Zia's son, Tarique Rahman, would be the next prime minister of Bangladesh.

If the party wins, Rahman will be Bangladesh's first male prime minister in 35 years.

"We are confident of forming the government by winning more than two-thirds of seats," BNP's central election steering committee spokesman Mahdi Amin told a media briefing in the early hours of Friday.

Rahman, who returned to Bangladesh in December last year after over 17 years in self-exile, asked party leaders and activists to offer special prayers across the country after mid-day 'Juma' prayers instead of holding victory rallies.

The EC was yet to announce the voter turnout figure. It dismissed allegations of manipulation regarding voters' appearances in polling centres.

"There were debates over turnout percentages in past elections as well. Please don't question it now," Chief ElectionCommissioner AMM Nasur Uddin told a reporter on Thursday evening.

He said variations were natural as results from several thousand polling centres arrived at different times.

EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed on Thursday said 47.91 per cent of voters had cast ballots by 2 pm on polling day at 36,031 of the 42,651 polling centres.

More than 2,000 candidates, including a number of independents, were in the fray for 299 of the 300 parliamentary constituencies that went to the polls.

Polling for one seat was postponed due to the death of a candidate.

The Election Commission made elaborate security arrangements for the elections, deploying nearly 1 million security personnel - the largest-ever in the country's electoral history.