Bangladesh Elections: Voting ends, counting underway for 299 seats— When will results be declared? All you need to know

Bangladesh Elections: Bangladesh held crucial Parliamentary elections on 12 February amid sporadic incidents of violence to elect a new government to replace the interim administration that took charge after the fall of the Awami League regime in August 2024.

Election Commission Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed was quoted by news agency PTI as saying that around 48 per cent voter turnout was recorded nationwide till 2 pm. The PTI report quoted the state-run BSS news agency in Bangladesh.

Nearly 127 million voters were registered to cast their ballots across 42,779 polling centres in 299 constituencies nationwide.

Voting for the 13th parliamentary elections was held alongside a referendum on a complex 84-point reform package.

Voting began in 299 of 300 parliamentary constituencies across the country at 7:30 am (local time), amid tight security, and continued until 4:30 pm. However, in places where voters are inside the polling station, voting will continue until they cast their vote.

Vote counting has already begun in many places.

The election in one constituency has been cancelled due to the death of a candidate.

The top leaders of Bangladesh's two major contending parties, as well as chief adviser Yunus, cast their ballots early in the day.

BNP chairman Tarique Rahman, who cast his vote at the Gulshan Model School and College centre in Dhaka's upscale Gulshan area, said the poll results will be accepted if the election is held in a free, fair and neutral manner.

"If the election is held in a free, fair, impartial manner and without controversy, then why shouldn't we accept it? We will accept it. However, of course, there is one condition that the election must be impartial and peaceful. If the people cast their votes, there can be a democratic beginning in the country from today," he said.

He said his party would accept the election results if the polls were held in a free and neutral manner.

"We want the results that will come through a fair process. If the vote is free and impartial, we will accept the outcome. Others must also accept it. That is the beauty of democracy. This is what we want," he said.

The Election Commission made elaborate security arrangements, deploying nearly 1 million security personnel -- the largest-ever in the country's electoral history.

There were reports of violence in some places.

In Gopalganj, for example, three persons, including a 13-year-old girl, were injured in an alleged hand bomb attack at a polling station, BDnews24 reported.

The blast occurred around 9 am at the Reshma International School centre at Nichupara. Two members of the Ansar, a paramilitary auxiliary force responsible for election security, were among those hurt. The injured have been taken to a hospital.

Zahirul Islam, the presiding officer at the polling station, said the injuries were minor and that voting resumed shortly afterwards.

In a separate incident, a series of hand bomb explosions have taken place outside a polling station in the Munshiganj-3 constituency, temporarily disrupting voting.

The blasts occurred around 10:15 am in front of the Makhati Gurucharan High School centre. Between 10 and 12 crude bombs were detonated, officials said. Voting at the centre was suspended for around 15 minutes.

Presiding Officer Md Titumir said the explosions caused panic among voters.

"We stopped voting briefly, but it has now started again, and people are casting their ballots," he said.

Also, a BNP leader has died during an altercation with Jamaat-e-Islami activists outside a polling centre in Khulna. The BNP said that he died when a Jamaat leader "pushed him" into a tree and hurt him. The Jamaat leader claims that the victim "fell ill" amid the unrest.

A total of 1,755 candidates from 50 political parties and 273 independents are contesting the election. The BNP has fielded the highest number of 291 candidates. There are 83 female candidates.

Yunus, who has promised to quickly transfer power to the elected government, voted at Gulshan Model School and College polling centre.

While some early trends may emerge later in the night, the final figure for the elections is expected to be declared by 13 February afternoon, election officials have said. Due to the higher number of parties and candidates in this election, the final tally could take longer than expected.

BNP or Jamat-e-Islami? What do pre-poll surveys say?

Three major pre-poll surveys were released on the likely outcome of the Bangladesh Elections. Two of those surveys gave a clear edge to the BNP, while the third one suggested a close fight between the BNP and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami.

(With agency inputs)