13th National Polls: Election campaigns officially underway

With election symbols allocated yesterday, MP candidates and their supporters are set to hit the campaign trail as electioneering for the 13th national polls formally kicks off today.

The nation is expected to be swept up by election fever, with streets, villages, and towns anticipating the familiar buzz of door‑to‑door canvassing, slogans, rallies, and a deluge of promises in the coming weeks.

The aspirants have until 7:30am on February 10 for electioneering. The election is slated for February 12, which is three weeks away.

For a large section of voters, this election offers the first genuine chance to exercise their franchise after three consecutive polls were marred by rigging and engineering.

An inquiry commission into the polls of 2014, 2018, and 2024 concluded those elections were orchestrated at the highest levels of the state, with segments of the administration, police, Election Commission, and intelligence agencies mobilised to carry out the plans.

This time 1,981 candidates -- including 288 from BNP, 224 from Jamaat-e-Islami, 32 from the National Citizen Party, and 249 as independents -- are vying for 300 parliamentary seats, according to the Election Commission.

Besides, 253 candidates from Islami Andolan Bangladesh, 192 from Jatiya Party, 90 from Gono Odhikar Parishad, 65 from the Communist Party of Bangladesh, 42 from Insaniyat Biplab Bangladesh, 39 from Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal, 30 from Amar Bangladesh party, 34 from Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis, 26 from Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, and 19 from Gono Forum are also competing in the race.

In a break from the usual, along with the national election, voters will cast their ballots in a referendum to decide the fate of key constitutional reforms aimed at strengthening fragile democratic institutions and rebalancing state powers.

With the Awami League barred from contesting the polls, political analysts say this election is shaping up primarily as a contest between the BNP- and Jamaat-led alliances.

The BNP, Jamaat, NCP, and other political parties have planned rallies in divisional and district headquarters and roadside meetings to drum up public support for their candidates.

The BNP will start its election campaign from Sylhet. Party Chairman Tarique Rahman, accompanied by his wife, Zubaida Rahman, reached the city last night and visited the shrines of Hazrat Shahjalal (RA) and Hazrat Shah Paran (RA).

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and several other senior party leaders are also travelling with him.

Tarique will address a public meeting at the Sylhet Government Alia Madrasa ground in the city’s Chowhatta area around 11:00am today. This will be his first public rally outside Dhaka since assuming the role of the party chairman.

Later in the day, around 1:00pm, he will attend an election rally at the Sherpur–Ainpur playground in Moulvibazar Sadar upazila, followed by another rally at 2:30pm at the proposed new Upazila Parishad ground in Shayestaganj upazila of Habiganj.

At 4:00pm, Tarique is scheduled to join an election rally at the Kuttapara Football Ground in Sarail upazila of Brahmanbaria and later another at Bhairab Stadium in Kishoreganj around 5:00pm.

In the evening, around 7:00pm, party leaders will attend a rally near the municipal park area in Narsingdi. Around 8:30pm, they will join election rallies in the Gausia area of Araihazar and Rupganj in Narayanganj.

After attending day-long programmes, Tarique is expected to return to his Gulshan residence around 10:00pm.

Jamaat will also start its campaign today through a door-to-door canvassing in the Dhaka-15 constituency led by Jamaat Ameer Shafiqur Rahman and other central leaders, followed by a rally around 2:30pm.

The party’s candidates across the country will also begin campaigning and other election-related activities. The Jamaat ameer will visit northern districts on Friday and Saturday, starting with Panchagarh.

He is scheduled to reach Panchagarh at 11:00am Friday. From there, he will travel to Dinajpur for a rally, then proceed to Thakurgaon. In the evening, he will address another rally in Rangpur and stay there overnight.

Large rallies will be held along the way, and Shafiqur will interact with people in constituencies on the route as well as in key markets and towns.

On Saturday morning, he will first visit the home of Shaheed Abu Sayeed and offer prayers at his grave. He will then go to Palashbari in Gaibandha to address a rally at 10:00am, followed by another in Bogura town at noon and one more in Sherpur, Bogura. He will later address rallies in Sirajganj town and Ullapara before reaching Pabna in the evening.

The NCP will officially launch its election campaign by visiting the mausoleum of three leaders and the grave of martyr Sharif Osman Bin Hadi at Shahbagh around 10:30am today, said Mahbubur Rahman, joint convener of the party and head of its Election Management Media Sub-Committee.

They will hold a rally there before taking out a procession and proceeding towards the Jatiya Press Club. There they will hold another rally before splitting up and going to their respective constituencies.

Among others, top NCP leaders, including Nahid Islam, Akhter Hosen, Asif Mahmud, Nasiruddin Patwari, Adeeb Arif, Monira Sharmin, Javed Rasin, Dilshana Parul, Nabila Tasnid, and other party leaders, will be present there.

The Jatiya Party led by GM Quader will also head into the campaign today.

He will begin the election campaign in Rangpur with visits to the shrine of Maulana Keramat Ali Jaunpuri, his parents’ graves in Munshipara, and the grave of the party’s founder, Hussein Muhammad Ershad, said party sources.

For the first time, campaign posters are banned nationwide to reduce paper waste.

The Election Commission finalised preparations for 42,761 polling centres and 2,44,739 booths for around 12.76 crore voters.

Polling will run from 7:30am to 4:30pm, an hour longer, as voters will cast both election and referendum ballots.

The referendum ballot will be pink; the national election ballot will be black and white. Both will be dropped into a single ballot box.

Constituencies with only one candidate will include a “no vote” option.