Bangladesh polls LIVE: Voting begins in country's crucial parliamentary elections

Polls opened across Bangladesh on Thursday (February 12, 2026) for voters to cast ballots in a parliamentary election seen as a critical test of the country’s democracy after years of political turmoil.

The contest pits two coalitions led by former allies, ‌the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami, with opinion polls giving an edge to the ‌BNP.

The election is Bangladesh’s first since former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government collapsed in 2024 after weeks of mass protests. She fled the country and her party is banned from the polls. 

Polling opened at 7:30 a.m. (0230 GMT) and closes at 4:30 p.m. Counting will ‌begin soon after, with early trends expected around midnight and results likely to be clear by Friday (February 13, 2026) morning, Election Commission officials said. 
source:thehindu.com