BNP Sweep, Jamaat Snub, No Awami League: Key Takeways From Bangladesh Polls

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by Tarique Rahman, is cruising towards a landslide win in the country, years after student-led protests led to the ouster of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

Here are the key takeaways:

• As of 12.20 pm, the BNP and its allies won 208 seats, followed by 69 seats won by Jamaat-e-Islami and its allies, The Daily Star reported.
• Tarique Rahman won from both the seats he contested in Dhaka-17 and Bogura-6, per provisional results.
• The BNP also won from the Bogura-7 seat, bagging a seat won by former prime minister Khaleda Zia in every election from 1991 to 2008. When Zia did not contest from the seat in 2014, it was not won by the BNP.
• While the Jamaat-e-Islami trailed behind in a far second position, the Islamist party's chief Shafiqur Rahman won from Dhaka-15 seat.
• Tarique Rahman is set to become Bangladesh's prime minister, becoming the first male to hold the post in 35 years.
• The BNP has come to power 20 years later, with Khaleda Zia's last prime ministerial term coming to an end in 2006.
• National Citizen Party (NCP), led by activists who played a key role in toppling Hasina's government in 2024 and is a part of the Jamaat-led alliance, has won five of 30 seats it contested, according to local media reports.
• Seven women candidates have won their constituencies so far, Prothom Alo reported. These include BNP candidates Afroza Khanam Rita in Manikganj-3, Tahsina Rushdir Luna in Sylhet-2, Farzana Sharmin in Natore-1, Shama Obaid Islam in Faridpur-2, and Nayab Yusuf Ahmed in Faridpur-3. BNP alliance candidate Israt Sultana Elen Bhutto won in Jhalakati-2, while independent candidate Rumeen Farhana won in Brahmanbaria-2
• The Election Commission of Bangladesh has postponed the results of three constituencies owing to legal issues, per Dhaka Tribune.
• Two BNP candidates - Sarwar Alamgir from Chittagong-2 and Aslam Chowdhury from Chittagong-4 - who have won unofficially will not be announced as winners till their appeal in a loan case in court is resolved, per BBC Bangla.
• The Awami League's "boat" symbol was not present on ballots for the first time in three decades. After the 2024 protests, the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus banned all activities of the Awami League and the poll body then suspended its registration. Hasina, who fled to Delhi after her ouster, called the elections "illegal".