BNP set to secure two-thirds majority, says Mahdi Amin

BNP is confident of forming the next government with more than a two-thirds majority in the 13th national election, its Central Election Steering Committee spokesperson Mahdi Amin said on Thursday night.

"Alhamdulillah, BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman has already been unofficially declared elected from two constituencies — Bogura-6 and Dhaka-17," he told a press conference at the BNP Election Steering Committee office in Gulshan.

Mahdi Amin alleged that since Wednesday night, their political opponents had engaged in various irregularities, including vote rigging and unlawful occupation of polling centres.

Despite this, he said, candidates contesting under the party's electoral symbol, the "Sheaf of Paddy", were leading by substantial margins in a large number of constituencies, with several already unofficially declared elected.

"BNP, strengthened by the love and support of the people, will form the government by winning more than two-thirds of the seats, InshaAllah," he said, adding that the party's confidence was based on vote counts and detailed constituency-level data received so far.

He alleged that incidents of irregularities, fraud and violence occurred in different parts of the country on polling day. He alleged that there were attempts at 'election engineering' in certain constituencies to favour specific candidates.

Citing examples, he claimed, in Dhaka city, the counting of votes and announcement of results had been deliberately delayed in several constituencies, including Dhaka-8, Dhaka-11, Dhaka-13 and Dhaka-16.

The BNP spokesperson also alleged that a particular political party had engaged in propaganda and violated the election code of conduct in an attempt to reduce the victory margins of BNP candidates, potentially affecting voter participation in some areas.

Mahdi Amin congratulated voters across the country for casting their ballots and supporting their preferred candidates.

Voting in Bangladesh's national election concluded on Thursday in a largely peaceful atmosphere, with high hopes of restoring genuine democracy and securing a strong mandate for national reforms.

The polling in Bangladesh began at 7:30am and continued until 4:30pm without interruption at 42,659 polling stations in 299 out of 300 constituencies, amid the deployment of nearly one million security personnel and another one million polling staff.

Alongside the parliamentary election, voters also participated in a referendum to express their views through 'Yes' or 'No' votes on proposals for several constitutional amendments.