BNP wins 209 seats, Jamaat 68 out of 297 in unofficial results: EC Senior Secretary

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has won 209 seats while Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami secured 68 seats out of 297 constituencies as per the unofficial results of the 13th Parliamentary Election. EC Secretariat Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed disclosed the results while briefing journalists at the Election Commission building at Agargaon in the capital this afternoon.

Announcing the results, the EC Senior Secretary said that although voting was held in 299 constituencies, the results of two Chattogram seats -- Chattogram-2 and Chattogram-4 -- could not be declared following court orders. “Accordingly, based on the available results from the remaining 297 constituencies, BNP has won in 209 seats and Jamaat-e-Islami in 68 seats,” he added.

Providing a breakdown of other parties’ performances, Akhtar Ahmed said the National Citizen Party (NCP) won six seats, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis two seats, Islami Andolan Bangladesh one seat, Gono Odhikar Parishad one seat, Bangladesh Jatiya Party one seat, Ganosamhati Andolan one seat, and Khelafat Majlis one seat. Besides, independent candidates won in seven constituencies. Regarding voters turnout, the EC Senior Secretary said the turnout in the parliamentary election stood at 59.44 percent, while turnout in the referendum was recorded at 60.26 percent.

Explaining the slightly higher turnout in the referendum, he said that although the court suspended the parliamentary election results in the two Chattogram constituencies, there was no restriction on holding the referendum there.  As a result, votes cast in those areas were included in the referendum count. He further informed that in the referendum, some 48,074,429 votes were cast in favour of change (‘Yes’ votes), while 22,565,627 votes were cast against it (‘No’ votes).

Responding to a question on the publication of the gazette, Akhtar Ahmed said the gazette would be published as soon as the final result sheets (hard copies) from returning officers are received and verified. “We expect the hard copies to start arriving by this evening,” he added. At the briefing, the EC Senior Secretary also expressed gratitude and thanks on behalf of the Election Commission to media professionals for their tireless cooperation in covering the election.