BNP frontrunner in Bangladesh polls: The Bangladesh elections are centered around two political parties, namely BNP and its former ally Jamaat-e-Islami. But former Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is widely seen as the front-runner. Zia’s son Tarique Rahman, who returned to Dhaka after 17 years, could become the next Prime Minister, if BNP wins. Rahman has promised job creation, maintaining law and order and an enhanced level of freedom of speech.

Bangladesh election numbers: The voting began at 7:30 am (local time) in Bangladesh in 299 parliamentary constituencies and is scheduled to continue until 4:30 pm. The Bangladesh election commission has cancelled the voting in one of the constituencies after the death of the candidate. A total of 50 political parties are contesting the polls with 1,755 candidates and 273 independents are also contesting the election. Bangladesh’s Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin confirmed the deployment of nearly 9,00,000 law enforcement personnel to ensure security during the polls.