- Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus called the election day a new beginning for Bangladesh
- The election follows the 2024 uprising ending Sheikh Hasina's 15-year rule and exile
- Polling began at 7:30 am and will continue until late afternoon under interim oversight
Over five decades after Bangladesh rose from the ashes of war in 1971, the country is once again standing at what many believe is a turning point in its history. As millions headed to polling stations across the nation, Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus described the day as the “birth” of a new chapter.
“Today is the birthday of a new Bangladesh. We will celebrate this birthday throughout the day,” the interim government head told reporters. Yunus cast his vote at Gulshan Model High School and College in Dhaka. “This is a day of great joy,” Yunus added, as per The Daily Star.
The election is the first since the July 2024 uprising that brought an end to former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's 15-year rule. Her tenure, often described by critics as iron-fisted, was what Bangladesh's politics looked like for over a decade. Youth-led protests forced her resignation and subsequent exile to India.
“Through today's process, people have rejected the past,” Yunus said. “Whatever nightmarish past existed, we have completely discarded it. From today, at every step, we have gained the opportunity to build a new Bangladesh,” he added.
Polling began at 7:30 am (7 am IST) on Thursday and will continue until late afternoon. The interim administration has promised that the vote will be free, fair and peaceful.
Yunus also asked citizens to take part in choosing their representatives and also in the referendum being held alongside the election.
“The whole of Bangladesh will change,” he added. “I feel very happy. This is a day of great joy for me. It is a day of great joy for everyone in Bangladesh. A day of liberation. The end of our nightmares and the beginning of new dreams, that is what today's process is for,” Yunus said.
For decades, Bangladesh's politics were defined largely by two rival camps: the Awami League led by Sheikh Hasina, and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), associated with late Khaleda Zia and now her son, Tarique Rahman. The Awami League has been banned from contesting the ongoing elections.
The BNP has entered the race as the front-runner, contesting 292 out of 300 seats and sharing the rest with smaller partners. Tarique Rahman, 60, is the leading contender for prime minister.
Facing the BNP is an 11-party alliance led by Jamaat-e-Islami. Banned under the previous government and long controversial for its policies during the 1971 war, Jamaat has gained strength since last year's upheaval. It is contesting 224 seats, while its ally, the National Citizen Party, formed by youth activists involved in the uprising, is contesting 30. If the alliance wins, its chief, Shafiqur Rahman, is expected to become prime minister.
Bangladesh's identity was forged in 1971, in a war that cost countless lives. The current also carried some echo of that struggle. During the 2024 uprising, 1,400 people were killed by a government crackdown ordered by Sheikh Hasina. She was handed the death sentence in absentia in November 2025.
