Over 100 foreign observers are monitoring Bangladesh's 12th general election.
Bangladesh Prime Minister and Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina has been re-elected for the fifth term, with her party winning more than 50 per cent in an election marred with violence and boycott from the main opposition BNP.
Around 170 million Bangladeshis voted today to elect 299 lawmakers even as the Opposition boycotted the polls. Forty per cent of the eligible electorate exercised their franchise amid sporadic violence, officials said.
The run-up to the elections was marred with incidents of violence and arson where at least five schools and four coaches of a train were set ablaze on Friday. Four people died in the train fire.
Sheikh Hasina, whose government arrested thousands of rival politicians ahead of the polls, urged pro-democratic and law-abiding parties not to fuel ideas that "disrupt" the country's constitutional process, news agency PTI reported.
The Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia boycotted the polls. Ms Zia, 78, is under house arrest after being convicted in a corruption case.
The BNP is observing a 48-hour nationwide general strike that began at 6 am on Saturday.
Over 100 foreign observers, including three from India, are monitoring Bangladesh's 12th general election.
Here are the LIVE updates on Bangladesh Elections:
Get NDTV UpdatesTurn on notifications to receive alerts as this story develops.
Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina Re-Elected For 5th Time With Landslide Victory
Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has won re-election for a fifth time following an opposition boycott, with her party taking at least half of seats and counting ongoing, an election official said.
"The ruling Awami League party has won more than 50 percent seats," an Election Commission spokesman told AFP.
Sheikh Hasina Projected To Win Bangladesh Election: ReportBangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina took an unassailable lead for a fifth term in office Sunday, winning at least 60 percent of seats in parliament, media reported.
Of the three-quarters of results announced -- 225 seats from a total 300 -- Hasina's Awami League had won 172 and her allied Jatiya Party eight more, according to results collated by Somoy TV, the country's largest private news broadcaster. Counting continues.
Bangladesh Poll Body App Slowed Down Due To Cyber Attack
Hackers from Ukraine and Germany carried out a cyber attack on its app, slowing down its functioning during the 12th general election in the country, Bangladesh Election Commission said according to a report.
After investigation, it was found that hackers from Ukraine and Germany carried out a cyberattack on the app reported news agency PTI.
Bangladesh Election Updates: Voter Turnout At 40%
Forty percent of the eligible electorate exercised their franchise amid sporadic violence, officials said. There is nothing such as a perfect democracy. Even in the US, we know how much they could uphold the democratic process: Awami League
Bangladesh Election Updates: Counting Begins
Bangladesh election officials began counting votes Sunday after polls guaranteed to give a fifth term in office to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina closed, following a boycott led by an opposition party she branded a "terrorist organisation", reported news agency AFP.
Sheikh Hasina has presided over breakneck economic growth in a country once beset by grinding poverty, but her government has been accused of rampant human rights abuses and a ruthless opposition crackdown.
Her party faced almost no effective rivals in the seats it contested, but it avoided fielding candidates in a few constituencies, an apparent effort to avoid the legislature being branded a one-party institution.
"Want Government To Continue": Bangladesh Voters On Polling DayBangladesh voters participated in the general elections in large numbers on Sunday, exuding confidence in the incumbent Awami League-led government under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The voters said that there will not be any impact from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) as people are not with them, but with the progress that the country has witnessed in the last 15 years.
Notably, around 170 million people in Bangladesh are voting to elect 299 lawmakers during the 12th national election amid a boycott by the main opposition BNP.
"We are very happy, it is a festive mood, people are coming out to vote. It's nice. People are very very excited to cast their vote. They are voting because they believe this government has done a lot of development which will continue if the party comes back to power. We think they will win and continue with the development," a voter named Rober Simon Gomez told ANI.
Bangladesh Newspaper Site Blocked As Country Votes Amid Boycott CallsOne of Bangladesh's key newspapers critical of the government said Sunday its website had been blocked, as the country votes in a general election boycotted by the opposition.
Sajid Hoque, news editor at the Daily Manab Zamin, said the paper had been "flooded with calls and messages" from readers who said "that they cannot access our website".
The newspaper's printed edition was still available on the streets.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is guaranteed to win a fifth term after a boycott led by an opposition party she has branded a "terrorist organisation". (AFP)
Bangladesh Cops Say Fired Shotguns In Clash With Opposition ActivistsPolice in Bangladesh on Sunday said they had fired shotguns as they clashed with opposition activists who had set up a roadblock to protest voting in ongoing general elections.
Mokhlesur Rahman, a police deputy commissioner in the port city of Chittagong, said officers had "fired shotguns" to disperse up to 60 opposition members who had blocked a road using burning tyres. "No one is injured," Rahman told AFP. "The situation is now under control." (AFP)
Bangladesh Voters In Queue Despite Hartal Announcement, Boycott Appeal
In Bangladesh's Comilla, voters were seen standing in a queue waiting for their turns to cast their votes despite a boycott led by an opposition party.
Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina Votes In Polls Boycotted By OppositionPrime Minister Sheikh Hasina cast her vote on Sunday soon after polls opened in a general election in Bangladesh that is set to carry her Awami League-led alliance to a fourth straight term amid a boycott by the main opposition party.
Accompanied by her daughter and other members of her family, Hasina voted at City College in the capital, Dhaka, minutes after polling began at 8 a.m. (0200 GMT). It will run until 4 p.m. (1000 GMT), followed by the counting of votes.
Initial results are expected early on Monday, though Reuters witnesses said voter turnout was low in the chill and fog of a winter morning preceded by violence in the run-up to the election.
"Bangladesh is a sovereign country and people are my power," Hasina said after voting, adding that she hoped her party would win the people's mandate, which would give it a fifth term. (Reuters)
Watch: SHeikha Hasina Calls Oppositon "Terrorist Organisation"
Bangladesh Polls Live: "They Are A Terrorist Organisation": PM Hasina Attacks OppositionBangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said the main opposition party that has chosen to boycott the national elections is a "terrorist organisation". "The Bangladesh Nationalist Party is a terrorist organisation. I am trying my best to ensure that democracy should continue in this country," she said.
Bangladesh Polls Live: Elections In Numbers- 12th elections
- 119.6 million registered voters
- 42,000 polling stations
- Voting held in 299 out of 300 constituencies
- 1,500 candidates
- 27 political parties
- 436 independent candidates.
- 100 foreign observers, including three from India
Bangladesh Polls Live: PM Sheikh Hasina Casts Her Vote
Bangladesh Polls Live: "Trying To Ensure Democracy Can...": PM Sheikh Hasina