News Desk : dhakamirror.com
BNP secured a sweeping victory in the 13th national parliamentary election, as millions of voters exercised their long-denied franchise in a festive and peaceful atmosphere yesterday.
According to official results and the party’s own counts, the BNP and its allies are leading in 208 of the 284 constituencies declared so far, putting the party on course for a two-thirds majority.
The Party set to return to power after two decades.
The party, which has been out of office for nearly two decades, expressed confidence that it would secure more than a two-thirds majority, describing the outcome as “an overwhelming public mandate”.
“Based on the vote count received so far and detailed seat-wise information, we are very hopeful about this victory,” BNP Central Election Steering Committee Spokesperson Mahdi Amin told journalists at 11:45pm yesterday.
The Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, once a close partner of the BNP and its allies, also made significant gains, claiming victory in 69 seats, as of 12:10pm.
BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman has been unofficially declared elected from Dhaka-17 and Bogura-6 constituencies after securing decisive victories over his nearest rivals.
As per provisional figures, Tarique, who returned to the country after 17 years in exile in the United Kingdom, secured 72,699 votes in Dhaka-17 contesting with the party’s “sheaf of paddy” symbol, according to unofficial results from the Election Commission and party sources. His closest contender, Dr Khaleduzzaman of Jamaat-e-Islami, who contested with the scales symbol, received 68,300 votes.
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has been unofficially elected from Thakurgaon-1, securing a commanding lead over his nearest rival as final results, including postal ballots, were confirmed.
According to the district election office, Fakhrul received 238,836 votes with the party’s “sheaf of paddy” symbol.
Among BNP standing committee members, Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain won Cumilla-1; Mirza Abbas secured Dhaka-8; and Abdul Moyeen Khan won Narsingdi-2. Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury was elected from Chattogram-11, and Salahuddin Ahmed from Cox’s Bazar-1.
Thousands of men and women, some on crutches or in wheelchairs, queued patiently for hours at polling centres across the country. They stood without fear, reclaiming the opportunity to choose representatives for 299 of the 300 parliamentary seats.
Women voters turned out in large numbers, many arriving in groups, reflecting broad participation across age and gender.
Alongside electing a new parliament widely seen as critical to the country’s democratic transition after years of political turmoil, voters also took part in a referendum on constitutional reforms. Two votes were held simultaneously for the first time in the nation’s history.
– Input from The Daily Star was used in this article.
