Bangladesh Nationalist Party Secures Majority In First Election After 2024 Protest

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) under the leadership of Tarique Rahman is all set for a landslide victory in Bangladesh’s recently concluded 13th general election.

The BNP and its allies have secured more than 151, comfortably crossing the two-thirds majority threshold in the 300-member parliament. Rahman himself has secured victory in two constituencies- Bora-6 and Dhaka-17.

While vote counting is still underway, the outcome has dealt a major blow to Jamaat-e-Islami and its allies, who have so far secured only 62 seats. Expressing dissatisfaction, the Islamist party said “We are not satisfied with the process surrounding the election results,” according to AFP.

This was the country’s first election since the student-led protests of 2024 ended the 15-year rule of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who is now living in exile in India.

Bangladesh voters on February 12 cast two votes each – one for the national election with white ballot and another for the National Referendum, with pink ballots to decide whether the July National Charter should be adopted.

The July National Charter 2025 is a reform declaration adopted after Bangladesh’s 2024 mass protests, outlining consensus-based constitutional, electoral, and governance reforms to prevent a return to authoritarian rule