The results of the 13th parliamentary elections in Bangladesh have come, in which Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has won an overwhelming majority. This election was held on 12 February 2026 and the results were declared on 13 February. The first general elections have been held in Bangladesh, almost one and a half years after the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government following the 2024 student movement.
In the elections held for 299 seats, BNP alone won 209 seats, while with its alliance partners it won a total of 212 seats. In the general elections, the alliance of 11 parties led by Jamaat-e-Islami got 77 seats, in which Jamaat-e-Islami got 68, NCP (National Citizen Party) 6, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis got 2 and other small parties got 1 seat each.
The special thing about this election is that the election symbols and names of some parties were similar to the politics of India. Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP) was also contesting the elections. BJP has won one seat. The election symbol of Bangladesh’s BJP is a bullock cart. Whereas parties with many election symbols similar to those of India like hand, elephant, bicycle and lantern were left completely empty handed.
This election took place after the student movement of August 2024, in which Sheikh Hasina had to leave the country and the interim government of Mohammad Yunus was formed. BNP Chairman Tariq Rehman made a comeback after 17 years and won both Dhaka-17 and Bogra-6 seats. Under his leadership, BNP has returned to power after 20 years. Tariq Rehman is being considered as the next Prime Minister.
This time the voting percentage was around 60%. The elections are being described as the most peaceful and credible in many years, but some parties have alleged manipulation and engineering of the results. A referendum was also held in which the July Charter (amendment of the Constitution) was approved by more than 60% of the people. There are changes like greater participation of women, tenure limit and expansion of rights.