Bangladesh Elections 2026 LIVE Updates: BNP retains Khaleda Zia’s seat as son Tarique eyes PM’s chair
Bangladeshi women leave after casting their votes outside a polling station during national parliamentary election in Dhaka, Bangladesh. (AP)
Bangladesh Elections 2026 Live Updates: Vote counting for the high-stakes election is underway in Bangladesh. The BNP and its allies are leading in 160 out of the total 299 seats. Tens of millions of Bangladeshis voted on Thursday in an election that they hope will provide stability and growth after the 2024 ouster of long-time premier Sheikh Hasina. The BNP’s Morshed Milton won Khaleda Zia’s seat Bogra-7, while Zia’s son Tarique Rahman won the two seats — Dhaka 17 and Bogra 6 — which he contested.
With the Awami League barred from the election, the political landscape has undergone a radical shift. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by the recently returned Rahman promising a “new path” focused on job creation and the rule of law. However, they faced a challenge from a re-energised Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh and its ally the youth-led National Citizen Party (NCP). The JIB has emerged as the second-largest party.
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This time, more than 2,000 candidates, including many independents, are vying for 300 seats in the Jatiya Sangsad, or House of the Nation. The two prime ministerial candidates are the BNP’s Tarique Rahman and Jamaat chief Shafiqur Rahman. They are not related. Voting in one constituency has been postponed due to the death of a candidate. At least 50 parties are contesting in total, a national record.
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