Election showdown highlights big parties, leaves allies scraping less than 1%
Among BNP’s partners, only a handful managed to register meaningful support, while several, even those fielding multiple candidates, failed to cross the 1% threshold.
The 13th national election cemented the BNP's stronghold over the political landscape, while the main opposition, Jamaat-e-Islami, also secured a significant share of the vote. Yet the real story lies in the shadows: most allied parties on both sides barely made a dent, often scraping together less than 1% of the vote.
Contesting under the "sheaf of paddy" symbol, the BNP captured 49.97% of the votes, while the Jamaat, carrying the "scales" symbol, secured 31.76%. Jamaat's 11-party alliance partner, the fledgling NCP, running under the "waterlily bud" symbol, made a promising entry with 3.05% in its first national outing.
Among BNP's partners, only a handful managed to register meaningful support, while several, even those fielding multiple candidates, failed to cross the 1% threshold. The Bangladesh Jaitya Party (BJP), contesting two seats, won one but accounted for just 0.14% of the total vote, while other BNP-aligned parties collectively fielded 124 candidates and earned only 1.12% overall.
The Jamaat-led 11-party alliance fared little better. Apart from the NCP's six-seat haul and 3.05% vote share, the rest of the alliance barely registered fractions of a percent. The Jatiya Ganotantrik Party (JagPa) recorded zero votes, and collectively, the Jamaat allies accounted for 6.76% of the total votes.
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Once a heavyweight on the political scene, the Jatiyo Party (JaPa), contesting 199 constituencies with the "plough" symbol, barely made a ripple with just 0.89% of the vote, while 45 other parties didn't even cross the 1% line. These figures come from a party-wise vote share report released by the Election Commission (EC) yesterday.
The EC also confirmed that 59.44% of registered voters cast their ballots, covering 297 of the 299 constituencies, as results in two Chattogram seats remain on hold due to court orders. A total of 12.77 crore voters were eligible, with 2,028 candidates contesting.
Md Abdul Alim, a former member of the Electoral Reform Commission, offered insights into the numbers. "In Bangladesh, swing voters – those who make up their minds at the last minute – are a big factor. Many hadn't decided until the day before the election. In the end, most of this swing vote got split between the two main parties," he said.
On the NCP's performance, he added, "The party is less than a year old, yet the votes it racked up are encouraging. Its leaders were active in the July Movement, and younger voters, hoping for change, threw their weight behind this new leadership."
Explaining JaPa's poor showing, he said, "A political party needs a clear ideology and has to present it convincingly to the public. Shifting back and forth between opposition and government roles hasn't gone down well. That explains their dismal 0.89% despite contesting 199 seats."
Regarding smaller parties polling under 1%, he said, "Most of these outfits exist in name only. They lack a grassroots presence, so the public doesn't buy into them. Many fielded candidates in just a handful of seats; even if they won locally, their overall share stayed below one percent."
Independents together claimed 5.79%. EC Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said, "Out of 50 participating parties, nine secured seats across the 297 constituencies. Voter turnout was 59.44% in the parliamentary election and 60.26% in the concurrent referendum."
