Bangladesh : more than 12 crore voters to cast ballots on Thursday in 13th NA election amid rising tension

By Our Correspondent

Agartala, February 9, 2026

Amidst rising tension across the country the 13th election to the 300-member National Assembly (counterpart of Indian Loksabha in the unicameral legislature) will come off on Thursday , 12th February from 7-00 AM in the morning to 4-30 PM in the morning. A huge electorate of 12,76,12,384 crore comprising 6.4760,382 males , 6,28,50,772 females and 1230 transgenders are registered to cast votes on the fateful day. This was stated in an official communiqué by the senior secretary to the election commission in Bangladesh, Akhtar Ahmed. The ongoing vocal campaign for the election will come to an end tomorrow at 4-30 PM.

The Election Commission (EC) has decided that mobile phones will not be allowed within a 400-yard radius of polling stations during the 13th National Parliamentary Election and referendum on February 12.The decision was communicated in a letter signed by Md Shahidul Islam, senior assistant secretary of the EC’s Election Management and Coordination-1 branch, on Sunday.

The letter has been sent to divisional commissioners, regional election officers, deputy commissioners and returning officers.According to the letter, only the presiding officer in charge of the polling station, the officer-in-charge of police assigned to the centre, and two Ansar members using the “Election Security 2026” application under the Integrated Ansar/General Ansar/VDP assigned to the polling station will be allowed to carry mobile phones within the restricted area.All concerned authorities have been requested to take necessary measures in line with the decision.Voting will take place from 7:30am to 4:30pm on February 12.

The EC has published a final list of 42,761 polling stations across the country. A total of 244,649 booths have been set up, including 115,137 rooms for men and 129,602 rooms for women. As the referendum and parliamentary election will be held on the same day, the number of secret booths will be increased accordingly.

Meanwhile, the supreme leader of BNP Tarique Rahaman today addressed a huge poll rally in the Banani area of Dhaka for the party candidate in the Dhaka-1 constituency , asserting that BNP is the only party that can bring about a positive change for the better in the political landscape of Bangladesh. Rahaman reminded the huge audience how lakhs of people had perished in the terrible famine that had gripped the country in 1974 and how his father and late president Ziaur Rahaman , his father, had restored normalcy in the country and made it food-surplus by the year 1981. “We can do the same by putting the struggling economy of the country back on rails ; there will be rule of law and ‘Allah’s wishes and dictates will be supreme “ said Tarique. He sounded confident of a comfortable victory in the next Thursday’s election.

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