Bangladesh is set to hold its Parliamentary elections on Thursday, February 12, 2026. The elections would be held 18 months after a student-led uprising toppled the then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s administration, following which an interim government led by Mohammad Yunus took charge of the administration. Hasina’s political party Awami League has been banned from contesting elections and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is led by former Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s son Tarique Rahman, who returned to Dhaka after 17 years of self-imposed exile.
Leading parties and candidates
Bangladeshi Nationalist Part (BNP)
It is led by Tarique Rahman, son of the late former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia. He returned from 17 years exile in London in December 2025. The party remains rooted in nationalist principles and has alternated between government and opposition with Hasina’s Awami League historically.
Jamaat-e-Islami (JIB)
The party is headed by 67-year-old Shafiqur Rahman. JIB was banned after independence and its registration was restored by the Supreme Court in June 2025, allowing it to contest the elections independently. JIB is fielding its first Hindu candidate, Krishna Nandi, from Khulna.
The voting will begin at 7:30 am in Bangladesh in 299 parliamentary constituencies and the will close at 4:30 pm. Due to the death of the candidate in one of the constituencies, the Bangladesh election commission has cancelled the voting in the respective constituency. The Election Commission has made sufficient security arrangements, deploying nearly a million security personnel. This will mark the 13th parliamentary elections in Bangladesh. Citizens will cast their votes at 42,761 centres across 64 districts for 300 parliamentary constituencies, according to the Election Commission of Bangladesh (ECB). Bangladesh has 127,711,793 registered voters aged 18 and above. Postal voting has been introduced for the first time in the elections, enabling around 15 million overseas workers to participate in the elections.
