By Our Correspondent

Dhaka, Bangladesh– Millions of Bangladeshis crowded polling stations across the country Thursday in a historic general election, the first since a student-led uprising toppled longtime autocratic leader Sheikh Hasina in July 2024, ending her 15-year grip on power.

Long queues formed outside polling centres in the capital Dhaka from early morning, with citizens, including elderly and disabled voters assisted by family members, waiting patiently to cast their ballots. Many described it as their first genuinely free vote in two decades.

"I never thought I would live to see this day," said 72-year-old Abdur Rahman, voting from a wheelchair at a Dhaka polling station. "We have waited so long for our votes to actually count."

Thursday's 13th parliamentary election marks a definitive break from the Hasina era. The Awami League, which ruled Bangladesh with an iron fist since 2009, has been barred from contesting after losing its registration. Hasina herself fled to India in August 2024 following the July Uprising -- a mass protest movement triggered by controversial civil service job quotas that, according to UN figures, left approximately 1,400 people dead and thousands injured.

The vote is being held simultaneously with a national referendum on the 84-point "July Charter" -- a sweeping constitutional reform package proposed by the interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus. The charter seeks to limit executive power, strengthen independent institutions, and prevent the return of one-party authoritarian rule.

More than 127.7 million registered voters --including 64.8 million men, 62.9 million women, and 1,232 third-gender individuals -- are eligible to participate across 299 constituencies. Polling in Sherpur-3 was postponed following the death of a candidate .

A total of 2,028 candidates, including 273 independents, are contesting the seats. Among them are 85 women and 80 candidates from the minority Hindu community .

- Youth Vote Set to Shape Outcome

Nearly 44% of voters are aged 18-37, with approximately 3.58% (roughly 4.5-5 million) casting ballots for the first time. These young Bangladeshis -- many of whom were on the frontlines of the 2024 protests -- are now translating street mobilisation into political power through the ballot box .

For the first time, nearly 800,000 expatriate Bangladeshis are able to vote through an IT-based postal ballot system, a landmark expansion of franchise .

- BNP and Jamaat in dead heat

The election has become a two-horse race between the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-led alliance and the Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party coalition, which includes the student-founded National Citizen Party (NCP) formed by former leaders of the anti-Hasina protest movement.

A major pre-election survey conducted by the International Institute of Law and Diplomacy (IILD) , polling 63,115 voters across all 300 constituencies, projected a razor-thin contest:

• Jamaat-led alliance leads in 105 constituencies

• BNP-led alliance leads in 101 constituencies

• 75 constituencies remain highly competitive

• 19 seats projected for other parties

Overall vote share stands at 44.1% for the BNP alliance and 43.9% for the Jamaat alliance -- a difference of just 0.2 percentage points. Some 6.5% of voters remain undecided, a bloc that could decisively tip the balance.

Voter turnout intentions are exceptionally high, with 92% of respondents stating they plan to vote .

- Demographic Fault Lines

The IILD survey revealed striking demographic patterns. Among voters aged 18-29, 51% back the Jamaat-led alliance compared to 38% for the BNP. However, the BNP leads among voters aged 30-59, while support among the elderly is evenly split.

Urban voters lean toward the BNP alliance, while Jamaat enjoys a slight edge in rural areas. Notably, support for Jamaat increases with higher educational attainment -- particularly among graduate and postgraduate voters -- while the BNP performs better among those with little or no formal education.

- BNP's comeback bid

The BNP, led by Tarique Rahman -- 60-year-old son of late former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, who died in December 2025 -- is contesting 292 seats, leaving remaining constituencies for its coalition partners. Rahman returned to Bangladesh in late 2025 after 17 years in exile in the United Kingdom, following his mother's death.

- Jamaat's resurgence

Jamaat-e-Islami, banned for years under Hasina and its leadership imprisoned, has staged a remarkable political comeback. Led by its Ameer Shafiqur Rahman, the party is contesting 224 seats -- its largest electoral footprint in decades. Its 11-party alliance includes the NCP, which is contesting 30 seats, seeking to convert street credibility into parliamentary representation.

Jamaat has sought to broaden its appeal, nominating Hindu candidates and involving women in door-to-door campaigns. Its promises include economic revival, reducing dependence on the garment sector by promoting industries such as leather goods, judicial reforms, and creating leadership opportunities for youth.

Neither Rahman nor Shafiqur Rahman has ever served as a member of parliament.

Unprecedented security

Authorities have deployed the largest security force in Bangladesh's electoral history -- nearly 958,000 law enforcement personnel -- to safeguard polling across 42,779 centres. For the first time, UAVs, drones, and approximately 25,000 body-worn cameras are being used for real-time monitoring, with CCTV coverage in over 90% of polling stations.

Despite these measures, the Election Commission has identified 24,000 polling centres as "high" or "moderate" risk. In Dhaka alone, 1,614 of 2,131 centres are categorised as risk-prone, though the army has identified only two in the capital as "risky".

- Indian disinformation campaigns confirmed

Bangladeshi authorities and international fact-checking organisations have documented a coordinated surge of disinformation originating primarily from India, targeting the electoral process and stoking communal tensions.

Authorities tracked more than 700,000 posts from over 170,000 accounts on X, making false claims of a "Hindu genocide" in Bangladesh between August 2024 and January 2026. More than 90% of this content originated from India, with the remainder linked to Hindu nationalist networks in the UK, US, and Canada.

- What comes next

Voting continues until 4:30 pm, with counting immediately afterward. Results are expected to begin emerging by midnight. The winning party or coalition will form the next government and, if the July Charter passes, must implement its constitutional reforms within 180 days.

For millions of Bangladeshis who took to the streets in 2024 -- and for those who waited decades for this moment -- Thursday is not merely an election. It is the culmination of a long struggle to reclaim their democracy.

"I am 26 years old," said Rahima, a first-time voter in Dhaka. "For as long as I can remember, we knew who would win before the votes were cast. Today, for the first time, nobody knows. That is freedom."