Prime Minister and Awami League President Sheikh Hasina won the Gopalganj-3 constituency in a landslide victory, her eighth term as a Member of Parliament, while her party clinched victory in 223 seats to form the government in the much-talked-about election on Sunday.
Sheikh Hasina is the longest-serving prime minister in the history of Bangladesh. She has won the fifth term, which is also her fourth consecutive term.
The premier bagged 249,962 votes while her nearest rival, Md Atiqur Rahman, secured 6,999 votes, and another candidate, Mahabur Mollah, got 425 votes.
In the evening, the premier instructed her party leaders, workers and supporters not to hold any victory procession following the announcement of the results.
She also directed them not to get involved in conflict with any candidate and his or her supporters after the announcement, Awami League Deputy Office Secretary Sayeem Khan said.
Click to get exclusive minute-to-minute update on election here
Main opposition in parliament, Jatiya Party (JaPa-Ershad), got 11 seats, Bangladesh Kallyan party won in one constituency while independent candidates came out victorious in 62 seats. Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal and Workers Party of Bangladesh won one seat each as they contested the election with Boat symbol.
Balloting in the 12th parliamentary election ended at 4pm amidst a largely peaceful environment amid some reports of violence, ballot stuffing, and violations of the electoral code in less than 100 polling centres out of 42,024 in 299 constituencies. Polls were deferred in one seat at the death of a candidate.
Over 1,960 candidates from 28 registered political parties and independents took part in the election.
The Election Commission also took stringent measures when they received allegations of vote rigging and violence. The EC cancelled voting in at least 37 centres and arrested 15 people. On the other hand, mobile courts jailed a number of individuals for breaches of code.
As many as 27 candidates boycotted the polls, raising various allegations.
The BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami and like-minded parties enforced a hartal across the country as they boycotted the polls, asking people not to go to polling stations. On the other hand, the 12-party alliance called a mass curfew demanding a boycott of the polls and resignation of the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Yet, the voter turnout stood at around 40%.
Dense fog amid a biting cold disrupted voting in the first few hours, but more people went to the polling stations in the last couple of hours before the end of voting.
The BNP on Sunday said they will continue the movement and observe the unfolding events in the aftermath of the polls.
The party criticized the low turnout and alleged that the ballot boxes were stuffed even in the one-sided election at night to show fake turnouts.
Regarding the BNP’s complaint, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun said that the ballot papers were sent to the polling stations in the morning in front of the journalists.
“You (journalists) can tell when the ballots were sent to the polling stations. You can judge how true this allegation is. One would call this allegation baseless,” he added.
On the other hand, Chief of Army Staff General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed said the troops will stay on the field as long as the EC wants.
Talking to reporters at Mirpur Cantonment Public School and College centre in the capital, he said: “I cast my vote in a very peaceful atmosphere.”
Asked how many days the army will be on election duty and how they will deal with post-polls violence, the army chief said: “As you know, we have been directed to stay on the field until January 10. If there is violence after the election, the Army will perform their duties with complete professionalism and neutrality, Inshallah.”
Our Senior Reporter Ali Asif Shawon, and Gopalganj correspondent Monoj Kumar Saha contributed to this report
