Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami has secured its strongest electoral performance in decades, winning 68 seats in the 13th national parliamentary election and emerging as a major force within the new parliament.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party won 209 seats, while Jamaat captured 68. Analysts say Jamaat’s steady organisational rebuilding and alliance strategy helped deliver the party’s largest-ever seat tally.
Jamaat won 18 seats in 1991, its previous high. The party secured three seats in 1996, 17 in 2001 as part of a BNP-led alliance and two in 2008. Court rulings, crackdowns and internal challenges later pushed the party to the political margins for years. Against that backdrop, this election marks a significant comeback.
Jamaat contested 225 constituencies and won 68. Authorities suspended voting in Sherpur-3. Party leaders have begun reviewing defeats in other seats.
Among senior leaders, party chief Shafiqur Rahman won his seat. However, Secretary-General Mia Golam Parwar lost in Khulna-5 to BNP candidate Mohammad Ali Asgar Lobi by 2,702 votes. Assistant Secretary-General Hamidur Rahman Azad lost in Cox’s Bazar-2 to BNP’s Alamgir Mohammad Mahfuz by nearly 35,000 votes. In Sunamganj-2, candidate Shishir Monir lost to BNP’s Nasir Uddin Chowdhury.
Senior leaders said the party had expected victories in at least 19 additional constituencies but fell short. They cited Pangsha-2 and Gaibandha-4 among seats they had considered secure. Jamaat also targeted Bogura-3 and Bogura-4 but lost both by narrow margins.
A senior Jamaat leader, who declined to be named, said central leaders are analysing the setbacks. He attributed some losses to overconfidence, weak coordination and shortages of polling agents.
Jamaat recorded notable success in Dhaka, winning six of the capital’s 16 constituencies — Dhaka-4, 5, 12, 14, 15 and 16. An allied candidate from the National Citizen Party also won in the city. The party had never previously secured a parliamentary seat in Dhaka.
Jamaat also performed strongly in Rangpur and Khulna divisions. In Khulna division, it won 25 of 36 seats.
At a press conference after a meeting of the 11-party alliance at Jamaat’s central office, Shafiqur Rahman alleged attacks on alliance leaders and supporters across the country. He claimed assailants vandalised homes and businesses and carried out arson.
He urged authorities to halt the violence immediately and ensure protection for political activists. “We want peaceful politics in this country,” he said. “Such attacks will undermine law and order.”
Bd-pratidin English/ ANI
