After 19 gruelling days of sleepless campaigning, horse-trading over seats, fractured alliances, and frantic last-minute deals, Bangladesh’s political parties now await the harvest in Thursday’s election—a deeply controversial vote and illegal referendum marred by the illegal exclusion of the Awami League, widespread rigging allegations, and a fractured field dominated by opportunists and Islamists.
The Representation of the People Order (RPO) amendments have upended traditional dynamics: No more big-party symbols for allies, forcing many small outfits to dissolve, resign from leadership, or merge into larger camps. The result? A chaotic patchwork of coalitions, solo runs, and independents (275 strong) vying for 300 seats amid boycotts, bans, and backroom betrayals.
The Awami League is absent—banned under draconian laws, deregistered, and calling for a nationwide boycott alongside allies like Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JASAD), Revolutionary Workers Party of Bangladesh, and the 14-party alliance. Bangabir Kader Siddiqui’s Krishak Sramik Janata League also sits it out, leaving a gaping void where the nation’s founding secular force once stood.
Main Battleground
-BNP-led alliance (Sheaf of Paddy symbol): The BNP, under Tarique Rahman, fields 291 candidates on the iconic sheaf (one cancelled for loan default in Comilla-4). This is the nominal frontrunner in a field stripped of real competition. A handful of allies contest under their own symbols: Revolutionary Workers Party’s Saiful Haq (hammer, Dhaka-12), Ganosamhati Andolon’s Jonayed Saki (sickle, Brahmanbaria-6), Gano Adhikar Parishad’s Nurul Haque Nur (truck, Patuakhali-3), and Bangladesh Jatiya Party’s Andaliv Rahman Partho (bullock cart, Bhola-1). Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam runs four on date palm (Sylhet-5, Nilphamari-1, Brahmanbaria-2, Narayanganj-4).
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Several leaders from smaller parties dissolved their outfits or quit posts to grab BNP tickets and the sheaf: Syed Ehsan ul Huda (Bangladesh Jatiya Dal, Kishoreganj-3), Shahadat Hossain Selim (LDP faction chairman), Redwan Ahmed (former LDP GS, Cumilla-7), and Rashed Khan (former Gono Adhikar GS, Jhenaidah-4). Controversial NDM chairman Bobby Hajjaj (son of arms dealer Musa bin Shamsher alias Razakar Nula Musa of Faridpur) contests Dhaka-13 on his own after the BNP snub.
-Three former “like-minded” allies—ASM Abdur Rob’s JSD, Mahmudur Rahman Manna’s Nagorik Oikya, and Dr. Mostafizur Rahman Iran’s Bangladesh Labour Party—bolted over seat disputes, with Nagorik Oikya contesting 11 seats solo after Manna’s fury over Bogura-2.
-Jamaat-led 11-Party Alliance: The Islamist powerhouse Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, under Shafiqur Rahman, dominates with 229 candidates on the scale symbol. This big-tent coalition—packed with Jamaat proxies and opportunists—includes the student-led National Citizen Party (NCP), AB Party, Bobby Hajjaj’s Bangladesh Development Party, Col. Oli Ahmed’s LDP faction, Mamunul Haque’s Bangladesh Khilafat Majlis, Khilafat Majlis, Bangladesh Khilafat Andolan, Nizam-e-Islami Party faction, Jatiya Ganotantrik Party, and Bangladesh Labour Party (added after Islami Andolan Bangladesh bolted). Total: Contesting ~298 seats in a push to capitalise on the Awami League vacuum.
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Other Notable Players
-Islami Andolan Bangladesh (Chormonai Pir): Broke from the Jamaat alliance over seat wrangling; contesting the highest solo tally at ~258 seats (third-highest vote-getter in 2018).
-Jatiya Party (GM Quader faction): Running independently in 198 seats with the plough symbol.
-National Democratic Front (NDF): Splinter from Jatiya Party led by Anisul Islam Mahmud faction; an 18-party ragtag alliance including Jatiya Party (Ershad), Bangladesh Jatiya Party, Janata Party Bangladesh, Trinamool BNP, and others—fielding ~206 candidates total.
-Democratic United Front (leftist bloc): Nine progressive/left parties—CPB, BASAD, Democratic Revolutionary Party, Revolutionary Communist League, Socialist Movement Bangladesh, BASAD (Marxist), Bangladesh JASAD, BASAD-Mahbub, Sonar Bangla Party—plus Oikya NAP and Ganamukti Union.
-Greater Sunni Alliance: Three Sufi-oriented parties—Bangladesh Islami Front (25 seats), Bangladesh Supreme Party (25), Islamic Front Bangladesh (20)—contesting 70 seats combined.
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