The 13th National Parliamentary Election has delivered a sharply polarized outcome, with 41 political parties failing to secure a single seat in parliament.
Voting was held from 7:30am to 4:30pm in 299 of the 300 constituencies on Thursday. For the first time in a national election, a referendum was conducted simultaneously. Of the 59 registered political parties, 50 contested the polls.
Analysis of the published results shows that only nine parties secured representation in the new parliament. The remaining 41 parties, despite fielding candidates in dozens — and in some cases more than a hundred — constituencies, returned empty-handed.
Of the 297 constituencies for which results have been published so far, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) won 209 seats, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami secured 68, and the National Citizen Party (NCP) won six.
Smaller parties squeezed out
Political analysts said the outcome reflected intense polarization around major alliances, coalition-based electoral strategies and tactical voting, leaving little room for smaller and newer parties to make gains.
Several parties that previously held parliamentary influence failed to win a single seat. Notably, the Jatiya Party (JaPa), long considered dominant in parts of Rangpur and Kurigram, failed to secure representation.
In Kurigram, traditionally described as one of its strongholds, JaPa candidates contested all four seats but lost each contest, with three candidates forfeiting their deposits.
Under Election Commission rules, a candidate must obtain at least one-eighth of the total valid votes cast in a constituency to retain the deposit. Each candidate was required to deposit Tk50,000 when filing nomination papers.
Rangpur sees major realignment
Rangpur witnessed a significant political shift. Once regarded as a JaPa bastion, the region saw a sweeping victory for the 11-party Jamaat-led alliance. Candidates contesting with the scale symbol won five of the six seats in the division, while an alliance-backed candidate won the remaining seat.
In Rangpur-3 (Sadar and City Corporation), JaPa Chairman GM Quader finished third, underscoring the party’s decline in what was once considered its political fortress.
Alliance breakdown
The BNP and its allies secured a total of 212 seats. Of these, the BNP won 209, Gonosamhati Andolon secured one, Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP) won one, and Gono Odhikar Parishad (GOP) secured one seat. Several other alliance partners, including Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Bangladesh and the Revolutionary Workers Party, failed to win any seats.
Meanwhile, Jamaat and its allies won a combined 77 seats. Jamaat-e-Islami secured 68 seats with its own symbol, the NCP won six, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis secured two, and Khelafat Majlis won one.
However, multiple parties within the Jamaat-led bloc — including Bangladesh Khelafat Andolon, Amar Bangladesh Party (AB Party), Bangladesh Nezam-e-Islam Party, Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Bangladesh Development Party, JAGPA and Bangladesh Labour Party — failed to win any seats.
Nagorik Oikya’s Mahmudur Rahman Manna forfeited his deposit after securing only 3,426 votes. To retain his deposit in the constituency, he needed at least 30,476 votes.
Islami Andolon Bangladesh secured only one seat, while its Senior Nayeb-e-Ameer Mufti Syed Mohammad Faizul Karim was defeated in both constituencies he contested.
A large number of candidates from the 41 unsuccessful parties forfeited their deposits after failing to obtain the minimum one-eighth of valid votes required in their constituencies. In several cases, parties fielded only a single candidate nationwide and were unable to make any electoral impact.
