Bangladesh votes in the first parliamentary election to be held in the country since the ouster of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
Polls opened at 7.30 am and will close at 4.30 pm (local time). The counting of votes will begin right after.
Bangladesh’s Parliament (Jatiya Sangsad) has 350 members. Of the total 350 seats, 300 are filled through direct voting, while the remaining 50 seats—reserved for women—are filled through proportional representation. To form the government, a party or alliance must win at least 151 of the 300 seats filled through direct voting.
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Bangladesh elections 2026 | LIVE UPDATES
10.05 am: Referendum vote will define Bangladesh’s future, but for many it’s a ‘don’t know’
More than three decades after Bangladesh last held a constitutional referendum, voters will return to the polls on 12 February to not only elect a new Parliament but also decide the fate of the July National Charter, a sweeping reform framework drafted after the 2024 anti-Hasina stir and endorsed by the interim government.
But on the streets of Dhaka, there seemed to be little awareness about the document that is set to define the country’s future. Some people appeared clueless about the fact that they had to vote in a referendum, that too on polling day.
Lincoln Stephen Saraow, 33, works at a coffee shop in Gulshan, a posh neighbourhood right behind BNP chairman Tarique Rahman’s residence. He said he is confused about whether to vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’ in the referendum. “I’ve read all the proposed reforms but was told I need to vote ‘yes’ for all to make it a ‘yes’ in total.”
“I don’t understand the referendum. I haven’t read it. But I have seen reels on Facebook and think it’s good for the country,” said 23-year-old Mohammed Imran Khan, a tea-seller in Dhaka’s Gulshan locality.
According to Yunus, the simultaneous election and referendum, a first in the country’s history, would bring an “unprecedented change” to Bangladesh’s political structure.
Yet, beneath the official optimism lies a dense web of legal, political and legitimacy concerns, particularly around the July National Charter itself.
Bangladesh’s past experience with referendums has centred around constitutional change. The last such vote, held in 1991, recorded a turnout of 35.2 percent, with 83.6 percent voting in favour of restoring parliamentary democracy. Before it, the Fifth Amendment, passed in 1979 during the tenure of President Ziaur Rahman, made referendums mandatory for any changes to the preamble or to particular articles of the Constitution.
That requirement was removed in 2011 through the Fifteenth Amendment under the Awami League government, which abolished the caretaker government system, restored secularism, re-established the four fundamental state principles (nationalism, socialism, democracy, secularism), increased seats reserved for women in Parliament to 50, and recognised Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as the ‘Father of the Nation’.
Read Debdutta Chakraborty’s report.
9.55 am: First elections since Hasina’s exit
Almost 127 million eligible voters are expected to vote in Bangladesh, as the country holds it first elections since the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, following a student-led uprising. The uprising that began as an anti-quota stir in June 2024 quickly took aim at Hasina and the government at large.
On 5 August, 2024, Hasina fled Dhaka for India as the 15-year Awami League rule ended. This year’s election is a contest between the BNP led by Tarique Rahman and the Jamaat-e-Islami, which leads a coalition of 11 parties.
Bangladeshis will elect 350 members to its Jatiya Sangsad. Of the 350, 300 members are directly elected, while 50 seats are reserved for women. Nearly 2,000 candidates have registered to fight the polls, that has no representation from the Hasina-led Awami League.
Apart from the parliamentary polls, Bangladesh is also holding a referendum on the National Charter 2025. The Charter is a part of the package of reforms promised by the interim government led by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus.
9.45 am: Tarique Rehman casts his vote
BNP chairman and son of former Bangladesh PM Khaleda Zia, Tarique Rehman casts his vote at a polling centre in Dhaka.
Bangladesh Elections | Tarique Rahman, Chairman of Bangladesh Nationalist Party-BNP and son of former Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Begum Khaleda Zia, cast his vote for the 13th Parliamentary elections, at a polling centre in Dhaka.
(Source: BNP Media Cell) pic.twitter.com/2bbk9XvNJZ
— ANI (@ANI) February 12, 2026
9.30 am: Tension at polling centre on eve of polls
Tension erupted at a polling centre in Narayanganj Wednesday night over allegations by a BNP candidate that Jamaat leaders and supporters were attempting to seal ballot papers with the support of the polling officer, The Daily Star reported.
Narayanganj-3 BNP candidate Azharul Islam Mannan alleged that the polling officer was “involved in Jamaat-e-Islami politics”. He also claimed that the officer opened ballot papers inside the centre Wednesday night and that party Jamaat activists were “preparing to seal them with his assistance”.
9.00 am: Jamaat, BNP supporters clash in Dhaka
A skirmish reportedly broke out between supporters of Jamaat-e-Islami and BNP supporters in Mirpur-10 Constituency, Dhaka as polling began Thursday morning. The situation was, however, later brought under control with the deployment of army personnel.
8.40 am: Polling continues amid heavy security
Visuals from a polling centre in Dhaka:
#WATCH | Bangladesh: Long queues of voters witnessed at a polling centre at the Gulshan Model School and College in Dhaka, as they await their turn to cast a vote.
Voting for the 13th Parliamentary elections begins. Parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, led by… pic.twitter.com/j8HHYzF9pr
— ANI (@ANI) February 12, 2026
8.15 am: A final push on the eve of polls
On the eve of polls, nationalism was on full display in the last big push by two of Bangladesh’s key political parties—the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)—on the streets of Dhaka.
Both held press conferences where topics like India, Bangladesh’s foreign policy post polls, women’s rights, and even the sticky issue of minorities, were touched upon. One was smoothly organised, the other was chaos.
Standing before reporters after formal campaigning closed, Jamaat-e-Islami’s emir Dr Shafiqur Rahman called Thursday’s election a democratic reckoning decades in the making.
“People’s demand is a change in the political system,” he said. “We are also in favour of that. But it is people who will ultimately decide the matter. We are very confident in our people’s choice. And we are respectful to them also. And this is the essence of democracy.”
But it was his comment on minorities amid concerns about minority rights and rising political polarisation that caught the most attention. He said: “Bangladesh does not have minorities, everybody is a Bangladeshi…The country belongs equally to all who live in it—not as minorities and majorities, but as citizens.”
This comes a day after a 62-year-old Hindu trader was hacked to death by unidentified men inside his shop in Trishal upazila of Mymensingh, the latest in a series of similar attacks.
At the same time, Dr Rahman acknowledged the fragility of Bangladesh’s democratic journey. “Like other democratic countries in the world, we are a country where in the last 54 years, our democracy did not take its own shape. Rather, it has lost its path now and again. So, the election will be a tool to decide the future.”
Asked about his party’s chances of winning, he added: “Allah will see to that.”
Read Debdutta Chakraborty’s report.
7.30 am: Polls now open
The voting has begun and will continue till 4.30 pm (local time). Counting of votes will begin soon after. Voters are also voting on a national referendum today.
While there are multiple parties and alliances in the fray, the Tarique Rahman-led Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is seen as the frontrunner.
The BNP has fielded candidates in 288 of the 300 seats filled through direct voting, while its allies have fielded candidates in the remaining seats.
Another key formation is the 11-party alliance led by Jamaat-e-Islami.
Among its constituents is the National Citizens Party (NCP) floated by students who played a central role in the anti-Hasina stir.
This formation is contesting 298 seats.
Also Read: BNP’s Tarique Rahman a crowd favourite on Dhaka’s streets. But there’s also the ‘third’ front