NEWS ANALYSIS
Bangladesh’s 13th parliamentary elections on February 12, 2026, delivered a resounding victory for the Right/Centre Right Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its allies, who captured over 200 of the 300 Jatiya Sangsad seats, according to tallies from Reuters, Al Jazeera, and CNN. With voter turnout around 59.4 per cent, the polls marked the country’s first competitive national vote since Sheikh Hasina’s 2024 ouster, sidelining her banned Awami League (Centre/Centre Left) while elevating Jamaat-e-Islami (Islamist) as the main opposition.
In a statement on X via ANI the banned Awami League has said, ” a carefully orchestrated sham election, which will go down as a disgraceful chapter in the country’s democratic history. This was not an election of public opinion; it was an exercise in industrial-scale administrative manipulation and numerical fraud..”
“Under this illegal Yunus administration, this rigged and one-sided election has robbed people of their voting rights. Therefore, the demand of Bangladesh’s 180 million people today is to annul this voterless, illegal, and unconstitutional election; ensure the resignation of the murderous fascist Yunus; withdraw false cases and release all political prisoners, teachers, journalists, intellectuals, and professionals; lift the suspension imposed on the Awami League’s activities; and restore the people’s voting rights by holding a free, fair, and participatory election under a neutral caretaker government.”
The BNP was setup in 1978 by Ziaur Rahman, who declared Bangladesh’s independence over radio on behalf of Awami League’s Sheikh Mujibur Rahman after the Pakistani military launched Operation Searchlight and Indian forces swept Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman became the first Prime Minister.
The current BNP leader Tarique Rahman’s (who returned from years of exile in Britain) mother Khaleda Zia was Prime Minister of Bangladesh for 10 years from 1991 to 1996 and 2001 to 2006. Sheikh Hasina was in power for 15 years (won in three elections, last two boycotted by the BNP) till her recent ousting.
The Hindu reports, ” The official count gave the BNP and its allies at least 212 of the 299 seats up for grabs, the Election Commission said. The opposition Jamaat-e-Islami and its allies won 77 seats in the Jatiya Sangsad, or House of the Nation.”
Tarique Rahman, the BNP’s de facto leader, now positions the party to form a government amid high expectations for reform. The BNP inherits the “July Charter” from Muhammad Yunus’s interim administration, which mandates bicameralism, prime ministerial term limits, and proportional representation to curb one-party dominance. Yet implementation remains uncertain: the BNP, beneficiary of the current first-past-the-post system, may resist changes that dilute its mandate, while Jamaat signals unease over alleged irregularities.
Economically, the new coalition faces inflation, banking woes, and export pressures, with BNP pledging anti-corruption drives. Foreign policy will test ties with India—wary of BNP-Jamaat Islamist leanings—and China’s infrastructure offers, as Dhaka balances autonomy and regional security. Civil society, energised by the 2024 “Monsoon Revolution,” will scrutinise rights and media freedoms.
In foreign policy the big sticking issue will be to bring former PM Sheikh Hasina, who has taken asylum in New Delhi, to face trial. She already has been sentenced to death by a court. It is unlikely India will handover Hasina, who was a staunch India ally. Still, what stand the Modi regime takes and how the Awami League reacts to the BNP’s victory will determine strained India-Bangladesh relations.
“More recently he has committed to inclusive clean governance, seeking a break from the kleptocratic associations of his past (Rahman has dismissed past convictions on corruption as politically motivated). In a recent conversation with Himal, Daily Star’s Zyma Islam said the publication’s research on social media discourse showed Awami League social media users attacked those associated with the right-wing Islamist group Jamaat-e-Islami, while those linked with Jamaat attacked the BNP, revealing who they considered political opponents. The BNP was swift to cut ties with former coalition partner Jamaat in order to reposition themselves as a “secular” alternative – one which proved appealing to voters,” says the Himal South Asian.
The BNP’s test lies in bridging its majority with Charter pluralism: consolidation could stabilise Bangladesh’s post-uprising order, but personalisation risks fresh turmoil. The consolidation of the Jamaat-e-Islami could be a big challenge for secular policies, women’s and minority rights, as it will push for the implementation of Sharia law in the country. A possible removal of ban on Awami League will remain contentious, though looks a remote possibility.
UPDATE:
“BNP committee member, Salahuddin Ahmed, said his party will formally seek the extradition of ex-PM Sheikh Hasina from India,” reports Aljazeera.
