Dhaka: Campaigning for Bangladesh’s February 12 parliamentary election ended on Tuesday morning, drawing to a close an unusually compressed and high-stakes contest dominated by two rival political blocs, as the country’s main contenders made their final televised appeals to voters.On the final night of campaigning, centre-right Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairman Tarique Rahman and Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami ameer (leader) Shafiqur Rahman addressed the nation in separate pre-recorded broadcasts on Bangladesh Television, laying out sharply different visions of change, governance and political legitimacy.This election marks Bangladesh’s first competitive national vote since 2008. The last three general elections were widely criticised as flawed, with the Awami League securing overwhelming majorities amid opposition boycotts or allegations of vote rigging.The 2026 contest is also Bangladesh’s first to be held under an interim government framework since the caretaker system was abolished in 2011. The administration led by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus has governed for 18 months since former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s ouster, far longer than originally anticipated.The speeches by the two main contenders were aired hours before electioneering formally ceased under Election Commission rules at 7:30 am, which require all campaign activity to stop 48 hours ahead of polling.The addresses reflected how far both leaders and their parties have travelled to reach this election. Tarique Rahman returned to Bangladesh from self-imposed exile in London just days before his mother’s death on December 30, 2025. For over a decade, he directed BNP operations while living in exile in the United Kingdom, facing corruption charges he denied as politically motivated.Jamaat-e-Islami, meanwhile, is contesting a national election after the lifting of its ban, riding a resurgence since the student-led uprising in July 2024, demonstrated by victories in a string of university union polls.The Awami League, which dominated Bangladeshi politics for more than a decade, is absent from the race, leaving what opinion polls suggest is a largely bipolar contest between the BNP-led bloc and the Jamaat-led 11-party alliance.A hawker selling plastic paddy sheaves, the election symbol of BNP, at a rally. Photo: Devirupa MitraBNP seeks contrition and a second chanceIn his 37-minute address, Tarique Rahman urged voters to back the BNP’s ‘Sheaf of Paddy’ symbol, presenting the election as an opportunity to restore democratic ownership of the state and build what he described as a “safe and self-reliant Bangladesh.”Acknowledging the party’s past record, Rahman struck a note of contrition. “While running the state during those periods, there might have been some unintentional mistakes and shortcomings on our part in certain areas. For that, I sincerely express my regret to the people of the country,” he said.He said the BNP had learned from those mistakes and was ready to govern again, stressing that “there is no alternative to strictly controlling corruption, establishing the rule of law, and ensuring the accountability of the state and the government to the people in order to implement every plan.”It is an admission that BNP’s main handicap among voters concerns allegations of corruption.Mohammad Habib, 25, a Dhaka resident working in a transportation company, had not yet made up his mind on whom to vote. “But maybe I can vote for Jamaat,” he said, adding, “If they don’t do well, we will remove them in two years, as we did Hasina.”He claimed that after the ouster, BNP-affiliated groups had fanned out to seek money after being politically marginalised for 15 years. “They just did chandabazi. If they did that before taking power, how much will they do after taking power,” said Habib, while waiting to complete an errand at Mogbazar, where the lanes of old Dhaka were festooned with black and white campaign banners.Banners in Mogbazar, Old Dhaka. Photo: Devirupa MitraOn religion and identity, both men tried to reassure majorities while gesturing to pluralism. Jamaat’s ameer located state responsibility squarely inside Islamic ethics of justice. Yet, he also insisted that “this Bangladesh belongs to Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and Christians alike. No one will live in a culture of fear,” promising that if anyone attacked others “based on religious identity, we will resist it.” He singled out Islamic scholars and the Tablighi Jamaat as future partners in “nation building.”Tarique Rahman, too, wove religious reassurance into a broader nationalist frame. Citing his father, he vowed that “by Allah’s mercy, if BNP is entrusted with the responsibility of governing the state again, the statement of full faith and trust in Almighty Allah will be reinstated in the Constitution.”The reference was to the contentious 15th Amendment passed by the Awami League government in 2011, which removed “absolute faith and trust in Almighty Allah” from the constitution’s preamble and replaced it with commitments to secularism, nationalism, democracy and socialism. The BNP has long opposed this change, viewing it as an attempt to erase Bangladesh’s Islamic identity. Reinstating the invocation has been a core demand of religious and conservative constituencies that form part of BNP’s support base.He claimed that there had been attempts to “misinterpret religion for partisan interests and mislead devout Muslims.”He followed that with a message that could have been aimed at allaying minority anxieties. “We believe: religion belongs to each individual, but the state belongs to all. People of every faith will practice their religion according to their beliefs and traditions.” The “democracy-loving people”, he said, “do not favour autocracy, religious extremism, or fanaticism that deprives them of freedom.”As the campaign silence took effect Tuesday morning, a different kind of movement began across Bangladesh. At Kamalapur Railway Station in Dhaka, crowds thronged the platforms as voters headed to their home constituencies to exercise their franchise.Railway authorities struggled to manage the surge. Passenger pressure increased several times compared to normal, with many traveling standing or even on the roofs of coaches due to seat shortages. Several trains departed with passengers after all seats were full, forcing some to climb onto rooftops despite official instructions against the practice.The Election Commission has imposed travel restrictions barring people from staying outside their home localities for 82.5 hours starting at 7.30 am on Tuesday and continuing until 4.30 pm on February 13. The measure aims to prevent vote rigging and intimidation while ensuring voters can reach their designated polling stations.Behind the scenes, election machinery moved into its final phase. Ballot papers were packed into jute bags and distributed to designated election officials in upazilas. The voters will cast two ballots on Thursday – a white ballot for parliamentary candidates and a pink ballot for the referendum on constitutional reforms.More than one million voters have already exercised their franchise through Bangladesh’s first-ever postal voting system. As of 8 pm on Monday, 1,031,269 voters including 511,757 expatriates had cast votes through postal ballots for the 13th parliamentary election.The Election Commission introduced an IT-supported hybrid postal balloting system for the first time, allowing Bangladeshi citizens living in over 120 countries, as well as government employees working outside their constituencies, polling officials and individuals under legal custody to vote.By Monday evening, 379,924 postal ballots had arrived at the Bangladesh Post Office from both in-country and overseas voting, with 107,168 ballots reaching returning officers from abroad.The postal ballots will remain sealed at counting centres until February 12, when they will be opened and counted alongside regular ballots after polls close at 4.30 PM.Vehicle movement restrictions also took effect. Motorcycle movement will remain prohibited from midnight on Tuesday until midnight on Thursday. Four types of vehicles, trucks, microbuses, taxi-cabs and motorcycles, will be suspended for 24 hours on election day itself.For Saiful Islam, another Dhaka resident employed with a private firm, the end of campaigning would mean relaxation in the traffic jams across the South Asian capital over the next couple of days.But he is also ready to exercise his vote, though he has concerns about all the political parties. “No party is fully right or wrong. I don’t think even the Awami League was fully bad. They also did some right things, but everybody wants freedom also,” he said.Describing himself as the grandson of a muktijoddha, Islam also said its legacy and how parties have mentioned it among his considerations. “It is definitely part of it [ my voting]. My nana fought in it. I have heard all about it. That created Bangladesh, how can one forget it?”At the same time, he agreed that the special quotas for the freedom fighters’ families, which triggered the students’ revolution against Hasina, could not have continued for generations. “My younger brother was on the street protesting (against Hasina). How could I have not gone?”Also read: At Awami League’s Fortress of Gopalganj, a Contest Between Memory and ForgettingThe 1971 divideThe contrasting treatment of Bangladesh’s 1971 Liberation War in the two speeches reflected a fundamental fault line that has shaped the campaign. BNP made the independence struggle central to its appeal, with Tarique Rahman invoking 1971 repeatedly throughout his address.He honoured martyrs “from the war of independence until today,” cited his father, BNP founder Ziaur Rahman’s role as a war hero and “Proclaimer of Independence,” and emphasised that “during the war of independence in 1971, the question of who belonged to which religion never arose.”For BNP, 1971 serves multiple strategic purposes. It positions the party as not only the guardian of national liberation but also takes over the political space left by the Awami League. The repeated references also implicitly draw a contrast with Jamaat’s controversial war record.Jamaat’s relationship with 1971 remains a question to be answered. The party opposed Bangladesh’s independence and supported Pakistan during the war. Several senior Jamaat leaders, including former party chief Motiur Rahman Nizami, were executed under the Hasina government for war crimes committed in 1971, including genocide, rape and killings of intellectuals.In his speech, Shafiqur Rahman mentioned the Liberation War only once in passing, offering prayers for “the martyrs of the Great Liberation War” before quickly pivoting to the July 2024 uprising.Where Tarique Rahman devoted substantial portions of his speech to 1971 and the legacy of his parents, appealing to voters who associate the party with sovereignty and democratic struggle, Shafiqur Rahman spent the bulk of his address positioning Jamaat as the voice of generational change and moving beyond “dynastic rule.”This strategic silence probably reflects Jamaat’s awareness that 1971 remains its biggest political liability.Youth vote reshapes raceJamaat’s intense focus on young voters reflects both opinion poll data and the party’s assessment of how Bangladesh’s political dynamics have shifted.According to a CRF/Bangladesh Election and Public Opinion Studies poll conducted between November 2025 and January 2026, 37.4% of first-time voters since 2008 intend to vote Jamaat, compared to 27% for BNP and 17% for the National Citizen Party, which is in alliance with the Islamist party.The same poll found that among former Awami League voters, 48.2% now plan to vote BNP while 29.9 percent plan to vote Jamaat. Young people, who make up 44% of the 127.7 million eligible voters, were at the forefront of the uprising that forced Hasina from power.A hawker is selling BNP flags in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Photo: Devirupa MitraAnalysts attribute Jamaat’s appeal to several factors beyond religious identity. CRF Vice-President Sahabul Haque told reporters that voters are placing less emphasis on religion but prioritising corruption issues.The party has also benefited from having an organised grassroots structure with an estimated 20 million supporters and 250,000 registered members.The National Citizen Party, formed by student leaders of the July uprising, initially positioned itself as a generational alternative but saw mass resignations after forming an electoral alliance with Jamaat. Several prominent NCP members who quit are now running as independents.The most recent polling data suggests an extremely close contest. An IILD/Projection BD/Jagaran Foundation survey reported on Monday projects BNP with 44.1% of the vote and the Jamaat-led 11-party alliance with 41.7%, with 6.5% undecided. The modelling suggests 105 definite wins for the Jamaat alliance, 101 for BNP, and 75 seats classified as toss-ups.However, another survey released the same day painted a dramatically different picture. The Eminence Associates for Social Development (EASD) poll, based on 41,500 respondents surveyed across all 300 constituencies between January 18 and 31, found that 66.3% expressed willingness to vote for the BNP. The Jamaat ranked second with 11.9% support, followed by the NCP with 1.7%.The EASD survey projected that the BNP-led alliance could win around 208 seats, with the Jamaat-led alliance securing about 46 seats.BNP sources told The Wire on Monday night that the party is confident of winning over 180 seats.Voters will simultaneously decide on the July Charter, a package of 84 reform proposals developed by commissions under the interim government. The referendum will ask whether voters endorse provisions aimed at curbing executive authority, strengthening judicial independence and restructuring state institutions.Also read: In Photos: Bangladesh Goes to PollsThe referendum has become a point of contention between the main parties. Jamaat strongly backs a ‘yes’ vote, viewing the reforms as essential to preventing future authoritarian rule. BNP has also endorsed ‘yes’ vote, but expressed reservations, with some party leaders arguing that an unelected interim government should not impose binding constitutional changes on an elected parliament.In his speech, Tarique Rahman did not mention the referendum, focusing instead on BNP’s governance agenda. Shafiqur Rahman made the referendum central to his appeal, framing it as necessary to “ensure the continuation and success of these reforms.”Even as the campaign concluded, the Election Commission felt compelled to refute rumours circulating on social media. In a press release issued on February 8, EC Public Relations Director Md Ruhul Amin Mollik said some individuals were spreading false claims that the polls would be delayed. The commission affirmed that voting would proceed as scheduled on February 12 in 299 constituencies.The false claims proliferated rapidly on social media in the final days before voting. According to fact-checking organisation Dismislab, misleading posts began circulating on February 7 with messages stating “Alhamdulillah, the election has been postponed.” The posts claimed the Centre for Policy Dialogue, a Dhaka-based think tank, as their source and cited a Channel i television report.Political analyst Shafqat Munir expressed the prevailing sentiment as voting approached. “We have to remember that this country has just come out of a revolution. It has come out of an 18-month long interim government. People are very traumatised by what happened during and before the revolution. We have not had a proper election for such a long time,” he told The Wire.“There is a lot of trepidation. There’s a lot of unease. It’s normal,” Munir, senior fellow at Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies, added. “But the good thing is that the parties are determined, the government is determined, our international friends are determined. We’ll have a good election.”Polling stations will open at 7.30 am on Thursday morning at more than 42,000 centres with approximately 250,000 polling booths across 299 constituencies. Voting will continue without a break until 4.30 pm – longer than usual to accommodate the dual balloting process.Counting is expected to start soon after voting ends. Initial trends should emerge by early Friday morning. The Election Commission has announced results will be officially declared on February 13.