BNP wins Bangladesh election in historic first poll since 2024 uprising

# BNP wins Bangladesh election in historic first poll since 2024 uprising

*Event date: 2026-02-12*

Bangladesh’s centre-right Bangladesh Nationalist Party has won a large parliamentary majority in the country’s first election since the student-led uprising that toppled Sheikh Hasina in 2024, according to BBC News live reporting. The result marks a sharp reversal for BNP leader Tarique Rahman, who spent 17 years in self-imposed exile in London before emerging as the dominant figure in this landmark vote.

The BBC reported that the BNP secured more than two-thirds of seats in parliament, giving it a decisive mandate in a political system that had been reshaped by the collapse of Hasina’s rule. Hasina’s Awami League was banned from contesting the election, while the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami came second. The scale of the BNP victory means the next government will inherit power after a prolonged period of upheaval rather than a routine transfer between established rivals.

Voters also endorsed sweeping constitutional reform in a referendum held alongside the general election. That adds another layer to the result: Bangladeshis did not merely choose a new parliament, they also backed a process that could alter how the country’s political system operates. According to the BBC, the referendum sets in motion implementation of the July Charter through constitutional amendments, legal changes and institutional restructuring.

The election is historically significant because it is the first national poll since the 2024 protests that ended Sheikh Hasina’s long tenure. BBC reporting said the uprising followed student-led demonstrations in which about 1,400 people were killed, an allegation Hasina denies. The BBC also noted that this was the first election since 1991 held without former prime ministers Khaleda Zia and Hasina on the ballot, underlining how much of Bangladesh’s recent political era has now been set aside.

Gender representation remained limited. The BBC said the BNP fielded 10 female candidates, the student-led National Citizen Party only two and Jamaat none. Initial results showed 85 women ran and seven had been elected, according to the newspaper Prothom Alo. Those numbers suggest the political reset did not produce a parallel breakthrough for women in parliamentary representation, despite the central role women played in the protests that preceded the vote.

The result is also likely to reverberate beyond Dhaka. India has watched the transition nervously as relations soured after Hasina fled there. BBC reporting said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Tarique Rahman to congratulate him on the “remarkable victory” and to reaffirm India’s commitment to peace, progress and prosperity in both countries. That call signals an effort to manage the diplomatic consequences of a new government taking shape in a very different regional climate.

Economically, the incoming BNP-led government will face a difficult brief. The BBC said Bangladesh’s garment industry, which generates more than 80% of export earnings, has been hit by slower exports, political uncertainty and high US tariffs, while households are still contending with inflation, weak private investment and a strained currency. That means the victory is only the start of a far larger test: turning electoral legitimacy into stability, investor confidence and workable governance.

For now, the headline result is clear. Bangladesh has produced a decisive parliamentary winner after years of turbulence, and voters have also endorsed reform. The challenge now is whether the new leadership can turn that mandate into a stable political order.