Dhaka, Feb 12 (.) – Polls closed in Bangladesh on Thursday in a landmark general election seen as a direct contest between Tarique Rahman’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and an 11-party alliance led by the resurgent Jamaat-e-Islami, after voting centers shut their gates at 4.30 pm.
While the final voting percentage is yet to be declared, vote counting has begun, officials said. Voter turnout reached nearly 48 per cent by 3 pm, they said.
The Election Commission (EC) has yet to receive voter turnout data from 6,620 polling centres across the country, the commission’s Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said, explaining the delay in announcing voter turnout.
About 127 million people were registered to vote, including around 5 million first-time voters, in the South Asian nation of more than 173 million people. Nearly 44 per cent of the population, some 56 million people, are aged between 18 and 37.
Voters who had entered polling station premises before the deadline will be allowed to cast ballots under electoral rules, officials who briefed the press said.
Opinion polls have projected BNP leader Tarique Rahman as a frontrunner for prime minister. However, the Jamaat-led alliance, headed by party chief Shafiqur Rahman and including the National Citizen Party (NCP) formed by student leaders behind the 2024 uprising, is seen by analysts as capable of springing an upset.
Nearly one million police and soldiers were deployed nationwide to maintain law and order.
Tarique Rahman called for the timely announcement of results amid reports of “irregularities”, while Jamaat’s Shafiqur Rahman alleged attempts to cast fake votes in different parts of the country.
BNP Election Steering Committee spokesperson Mahdi Amin claimed, “There is a clear and huge difference between BNP and rival political party,” and added that there were attempts “to threaten voters”. He appealed to partymen to “ensure that there is no irregularity in counting and announcing the results.”
In a Facebook post, the Jamaat leader said polling agents were being “attacked and wounded in various places… Women are being harassed.” He also alleged attempts to capture polling centres in several areas.
The Election Commission secretary said it was reviewing Jamaat’s demand to suspend voting in nearly 100 centres in three constituencies.
However, after voting concluded, the head of Bangladesh’s interim government, Muhammad Yunus, said the “spontaneous participation of voters, the responsible conduct of political parties, the restraint shown by candidates, and the professionalism of all institutions collectively demonstrated our commitment to democracy.”
Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in a statement, dismissed the election as “a carefully planned farce”, saying it had been organised by Yunus, whom she accused of taking power through illegal means.
This is the first time since independence, that the party which led the country to freedom – Awami League was absent from the polls after being banned by the Yunu-led regime. Nearly a lakh of its leadersand supporters are in jail, while thousands are living as refugees outside Bangladesh.
After voting in Bangladesh ends, presiding officers seal ballot boxes in the presence of polling agents and separately account for unused ballots. Counting usually begins at polling centres, where officials reconcile ballots cast with voter lists before opening boxes and sorting ballots candidate-wise.
Ballots with unclear markings or multiple seals may be declared invalid under electoral rules, with presiding officers ruling on disputed votes.
In Chattogram, voting concluded across all 16 constituencies in what local officials described as a “festive and peaceful atmosphere.”
A total of 115 candidates contested in the district, where 6,682,517 voters were eligible.
In Khulna division, turnout reached 61 per cent across six parliamentary constituencies, according to Returning Officer and District Commissioner ASM Jamshaid Khandaker, one of the highest participation rates reported nationwide.
In the capital city of Dhaka, and its surrounding constituencies, the turnout varied substantially, generally ranging between the mid-30s and just above 50 per cent by late afternoon.
Across Dhaka district, overall turnout stood at 40.9 per cent by 2pm.
District Commissioner Rezaul Karim, serving as returning officer for five Dhaka seats, said turnout across those constituencies was around 40% by early afternoon.
Preliminary results were expected later in the night. . XC/.