Campaigning Ends Ahead of Polls

Electioneering for the Thirteenth Jatiya Sangsad election and the accompanying referendum will formally conclude on Tuesday morning, marking the final phase before voting day. According to the Election Commission (EC), all forms of campaign activity by political parties and candidates must cease at 7:30 a.m. on 10 February, exactly 48 hours before polling begins on 12 February.

Campaigning for the election began on 22 January and has continued for nearly three weeks across the country. The deadline is in line with Article 18 of the Election Commission (Political Parties and Candidates’ Code of Conduct) Rules 2025, which clearly stipulates that no registered political party, nominated candidate, independent candidate, or any individual acting on their behalf may begin electioneering earlier than three weeks prior to polling day. The same provision requires all campaigning to end 48 hours before the start of voting.

Confirming the timeline, Senior Secretary of the Election Commission Secretariat, Akhtar Ahmed, stated that political parties and candidates are legally bound to halt all campaign activities from 7:30 a.m. on 10 February, ensuring a campaign-free period before voting.

The Thirteenth Jatiya Sangsad election and the national referendum will be held on Thursday, 12 February. Voting will take place simultaneously across the country from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., using transparent ballot boxes and paper ballots. Polling is scheduled in 299 parliamentary constituencies nationwide.

Originally, elections were planned in all 300 constituencies. However, the EC recently cancelled the election in Sherpur-3 following the death of a Jamaat-e-Islami candidate. As a result, voting will proceed in 299 seats instead of the full complement.

The scale of participation in this election is substantial. A total of 51 political parties are contesting, with 2,034 candidates in the race. Among them are 275 independent candidates, reflecting a significant presence outside party structures. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has fielded the highest number of candidates, with 291 contestants standing under its traditional symbol, the sheaf of paddy.

Other major parties are also contesting in large numbers. Islami Andolon Bangladesh has nominated 258 candidates using the hand-fan symbol, while Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami is contesting 229 seats with the weighing scale as its symbol. The Jatiya Party has fielded 198 candidates under the plough symbol. In addition, the National Citizen Party (NCP) is contesting with 32 candidates using the lotus bud emblem.

Independent candidates are contesting under various symbols approved by the EC, with 76 of them using the football symbol alone.

Key Election Figures

With campaigning drawing to a close, the country now enters the critical pre-poll quiet period, intended to give voters the opportunity to reflect before casting their ballots.