Counting of votes is under way in Dhaka soon after polling across 299 constituencies of Bangladesh was completed on Thursday (February 12, 2026) evening, in a parliamentary election seen as a critical test of the country’s democracy after years of political turmoil. Early trends are expected around midnight and results are likely be clear by Friday (February 13, 2026) morning, Election Commission officials said.
While Chief Adviser of the interim government Muhammad Yunus hailed the moment as “the beginning of an unprecedented journey toward a new Bangladesh”, deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in her first statement after the polling, called it a “farce” by Mr. Yunus. “Voter turnout was negligible in most polling centers nationwide, and in many centers across the capital and other areas, there were no voters at all,” the statement read.
Read: Bangladesh election: BNP accuses Jamaat-e-Islami of trying to buy votes hours before pollingThe contest pits two coalitions led by former allies, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami, with opinion polls giving an edge to the BNP. The polls were held simultaneously along with a referendum on a complex 84-point reform package introduced by interim chief Muhammad Yunus.
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