The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is seen as the frontrunner after 19 months of political turmoil following the departure of Sheikh Hasina.
Supporters of the Jamaat-e-Islami party attend a rally on the final day of campaigning in Dhaka on February 9, 2026 ahead of the country’s general elections on February 12. (Photo by Munir Uz Zaman/AFP) (AFP)The election comes nearly a year and a half after a student-led uprising ousted the Awami League government led by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024. Hasina has been living in exile in India since then when her party was barred from the electoral process.
With Hasina absent from Bangladesh’s political scene, the BNP has emerged as the front-runner in the upcoming elections, with its long-time ally Jamaat-e-Islami as its main challenger.
When 2024 witnesses Sheikh Hasina’s ouster, that same year, happened miles away from Dhaka, Pakistan. India’s western neighbor had its own general election.
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Pakistan’s general elections in 2024 have some parallels that can be seen in Bangladesh this year as well. Here’s a deep dive into some of these parallels.
Bangladesh Election 2026: What Dhaka has in common with Pakistan 2024?Deposed Prime Minister: Two years ago both Bangladesh and Pakistan were dealing with the aftermath of ousted prime ministers. While Bangladesh’s Sheikh Hasina was ousted in August 2024 by mass protests against her government, the Imran Khan government was ousted in 2023 by a no-confidence motion.
While it is true that both countries faced ousted prime ministers, the circumstances of their removal were completely different. Bangladesh saw massive student-led protests against the Awami League government, forcing Sheikh Hasina to flee to India. On the other hand, many have alleged that the Pakistani army is behind the removal of Imran Khan from office. Either way, both had consequences to deal with.
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Team Prohibited: Both Pakistan in 2024 and Bangladesh in 2026 banned the ousted ruling party for elections. Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was barred from using their names and election symbols by a Supreme Court order not to conduct internal elections.
Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League has been banned from contesting elections in Bangladesh.
Independent candidates retain dominance: With the ban on the PTI in Pakistan in 2024 and the Awami League in Bangladesh being barred from the 2026 elections, it becomes important to keep an eye on independent candidates in both places.
Imran Khan’s PTI supported several candidates who contested on individual election symbols, winning 93 of them in the National Assembly seats. A total of 101 independents won their seats, making it the largest group of MNAs in the country.
Similarly, the party may support independents even if the Awami League fails to contest in Bangladesh, although there have been no indications so far. Even if that doesn’t happen, voter turnout in old Awami League bastions like Gopalganj, Shariatpur, Bagerhat and some parts of Faridpur and Rajbari will tell whether the elections held without Hasina’s party are truly successful.
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The path to selection is clear: The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Pakistan’s two main parties, contested the 2024 general elections in alliance with each other in the absence of the PTI. This gave them a clear path to power and PML-N’s Shahbaz Sharif became the prime minister of the country.
Late Khaleda Zia’s BNP also has a clear path to win Bangladesh’s general elections as their main rival Awami League is absent from the polls, a reversal of fortunes from the 2024 elections which the BNP boycotted. The current head of the party and Ziaputra Tariq Rahman is clearly ahead in this position.
So will BNP win the expected landslide or parties like Jamaat-e-Islami will come to the edge after years and build their position? Either way, Bangladesh’s 2026 election looks eerily similar to Pakistan’s 2024 election.
