A significant contest will take place in Dhaka-8 where BNP’s strongman Mirza Abbas is being challenged by National Citizen Party’s Nasiruddin Patowary. Leading prime ministerial hopeful Tarique Rahman, 60, is confident his Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) can regain power, but he faces a stiff challenge from the Muslim-majority country’s largest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami. Bangladesh’s previous election was in January 2024 when the chief opposition BNP boycotted. Sheikh Hasina of Awami League formed government after the election but was overthrown in a public uprising in July-August 2024. Both BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami have accused Awami League of rigging the previous three elections of Bangladesh in 2024, 2018 and in 2014.

Source: The Hindu February 12, 2026 11:13 UTC