Bangladesh Polls Close: BNP Eyes Win in Post-Hasina Vote
By KUNAL CHATTERJEE
Bangladesh just wrapped up its parliamentary elections on February 12, 2026, the first big vote since students toppled Sheikh Hasina's long rule last year.
Families lined up at dawn outside school-turned-polling stations, first-time young voters buzzed with excitement, and a mix of cheers and worries in the air as votes get counted right now. About 48% turnout shows people care, even if not everyone showed up, in a nation of 127 million registered folks.
This all kicked off after those raw 2024 protests, youth fed up with jobs nowhere, corruption everywhere, and Hasina's tight control. She bolted to India, courts banned her Awami League, and Nobel hero Muhammad Yunus took the wheel as interim leader. From exile, Hasina begged for a boycott, but queues formed anyway, from Dhaka streets to rural spots.
The real scrap is between BNP, led by Tarique Rahman promising jobs, safety, and free talk after years of fear, and a fresh alliance of Jamaat-e-Islami with student-born National Citizen Party pushing clean governance and reforms. Early tallies hint BNP's surging ahead in key areas, but Jamaat's quiet rise has everyone guessing.
Polling ran smooth-ish from 8 AM to 4:30 PM, with Yunus voting early and beaming, dubbing it Bangladesh's "new birthday." Over 150,000 security personnel watched 42,000 centers, plus eyes from 45 countries. Folks chatted prices through the roof, grad unemployment, and fixing Hasina's economic hangover. They also weighed Yunus's "July Charter", 84 fixes to honour the uprising, tweak the constitution, and block old power grabs, though rivals call it half-baked.
Trouble lurked though, 16 dead in pre-vote clashes since December, "rebel" BNP hopefuls sparking fights in 80 spots, ballot fiddles nabbed in Joypurhat, and stray blasts. Still, cops say it's calmer than rigged past polls, blaming crooks over politics. Minorities like Hindus eye BNP-Jamaat nerves warily, past scars fresh.
Yunus hailed a fresh start beyond "nightmares" of Hasina or Zia days, BNP urged party vibes at booths, and Hasina griped low crowds meant rejection. India peers over the fence with Hasina sheltered there. Win or lose, Bangladesh aches for healers to mend divides and fire up growth, whoever grabs those 299 seats tonight.
