BNP ahead in all Gopalganj constituencies as counting stretches into night
The three constituencies account for over one million registered voters, though turnout was noticeably low across the district
BNP candidates were leading in all three parliamentary constituencies of Gopalganj as counting continued late into the night, according to data from the returning officer's office.
In Gopalganj-1 (Muksudpur and part of Kashiani), initial results from 17 out of 139 centres showed Kabir Mia of the Gono Odhikar Parishad in the lead with 11,271 votes, followed by BNP's central Assistant Organising Secretary Md Selimuzzaman Mollah with 7,731 votes.
Jamaat-e-Islami's shura member and former district ameer Muhammad Abdul Hamid also contested the seat.
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In Gopalganj-2 (Sadar and seven unions of Kashiani), BNP candidate KM Babar, a member of the district convening committee and information and technology secretary of the pro-BNP Doctors Association of Bangladesh (DAB), secured 30,334 votes from 114 of 118 centres.
His nearest rivals at that stage were Shuaib Ibrahim of Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis with 23,025 votes and independent candidate MH Khan Manju with 21,958 votes. Jamaat-e-Islami did not field a candidate in this constituency.
In Gopalganj-3 (Tungipara and Kotalipara), BNP candidate and central president of the Jatiyatabadi Swechchhasebak Dal, SM Zilani, led with 13,244 votes from 27 of 109 centres, ahead of independent Gobinda Chandra Pramanik, who received 9,229 votes.
Postal ballot counts from 22 of 32 centres further strengthened Zilani's lead, giving him 11,855 votes to Pramanik's 3,943. Zilani had previously contested this seat against Sheikh Hasina in 2008 and 2018 but lost on both occasions.
Together, the three constituencies account for over one million registered voters, though turnout was noticeably low across the district.
Out of 38 initial nominations for Gopalganj's three seats, 26 candidates remained after scrutiny, with BNP contesting all three, Jamaat two, and other parties, including Khelafat Majlis, NCP, and Gono Odhikar Parishad, fielding one each.
Gopalganj, historically an Awami League stronghold and Sheikh Hasina's home turf, saw the party boycott this election following a government ban, with many local leaders inactive due to legal cases or detention.
Gopalganj, during the election period, saw sporadic violence, including crude bomb explosions at 12 centres the night before polling and a cocktail blast at Reshma International School on election morning, injuring two Ansar personnel and a child.
