Dhaka: Dhaka’s streets are busy again, and election rallies have only intensified the churn. From the upmarket Gulshan Avenue to the shabby lanes of Merul Badda, and on to Elephant Road in Moghbazar, where walking itself is a challenge, the city now reverberates with loudspeakers as candidates jostle for space in the race to form the next government after the polls on February 12.Women have emerged as the centrepiece of nearly every manifesto.Slogans, meetings, rallies, cars, crowds and door-to-door campaigns define the contest, while banners remain strikingly uniform black and white. The battle over credibility is being fought on the streets rather than through spectacle.The images unfolding across the city feature the main contenders: Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and its 10 like-minded allies, among them the National Citizen Party (NCP) led by Nahid Islam, facing off against one of the country’s oldest parties, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), contesting the election with a seven-party alliance.The campaign has largely avoided slander against minorities or personal attacks, an unusual feature in Bangladesh’s electoral history. The courts have suspended Awami League’s political activities, leaving it conspicuously absent from the campaign trail. While some describe an election without Awami League as inherently non-inclusive, others argue that this election, after years of unrest, represents a rare democratic opening, particularly for first-time voters.Voters will also cast ballots in a referendum that could establish a new constitution and introduce a bicameral system of governance.What is unmistakable is the colour and intensity of the streets, day and night. This is a city still processing what many call a “second revolution” in June 2024 – a period marked by bloodshed and deaths, culminating in the flight of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina to India. It is a past the city neither wishes to forget nor feels ready to forgive.Tarique Rahman, the BNP scion.Tarique Rahman is a candidate from the poshest areas of Dhaka.Women campaign for Tarique Rahman.A campaign rally of the Islamic Andolan which has left the Jamaat alliance.A campaign rally for Saiful Haq of a workers’ party which is now a BNP ally.A Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami rally in Dhaka.Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami chief Shafikur Rahaman talks about religious inclusivity.NCP leader and candidate, student leader Nahid Islam, at a mosque, at prayers between campaigns.Nahid Islam on the campaign trail.A poster for Ganasanhati Andolan candidate Taslima Akhter. Campaigns for Saiful Alam Nirob, an independent candidate.Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami election propaganda.All photos are by Shome Basu.