BNP Wins Bangladesh Landslide as Jamaat-e-Islami's Historic Surge Raises Questions About Women's Rights

Tarique Rahman stood before reporters in Dhaka on Saturday and called the Bangladesh Nationalist Party's landslide election victory "a win for democracy" — a remarkable statement from a man who, just two months earlier, had been living in self-imposed exile in London .

The scale of the BNP's triumph was decisive. With 209 of 297 declared seats, Rahman's centre-right party secured a two-thirds supermajority in the Jatiya Sangsad, returning to power after 20 years in the political wilderness . The election, held on February 12, was widely described as the first genuinely free and fair vote Bangladesh had seen since 2008 — a period during which Sheikh Hasina's Awami League had consolidated power through elections marred by boycotts, suppression and credible allegations of rigging .

But the BNP's commanding performance is only half the story. The real surprise was the showing of Jamaat-e-Islami, the Islamist party that won 68 seats — more than it had ever secured in the country's 55-year democratic history . Together with allied parties, Jamaat's bloc in parliament will total roughly 77 seats, making it a formidable opposition force .

From Banned to Ballot Box

Jamaat-e-Islami's trajectory over the past 18 months amounts to one of the most dramatic political rehabilitations in South Asian politics. Under Hasina's rule, the party was banned, its leaders jailed, disappeared or sentenced to death . The July 2024 student-led uprising that toppled Hasina — killing more than 1,000 people — opened the door for Jamaat to re-enter politics with what Crisis Group's Thomas Kean described as "unprecedented gusto" .

The party's resurgence was particularly pronounced along Bangladesh's western border with India, where analysts attributed its support largely to anti-India sentiment rather than Islamist ideology . Limited pre-election polling had suggested BNP would dominate, but few predicted Jamaat would break so decisively past its historical ceiling.

The Women's Rights Question

Jamaat's rise has provoked genuine alarm among women's rights advocates and secular Bangladeshis. The party did not field a single female candidate . Its leader, Shafiqur Rahman, said in an interview with Al Jazeera that a woman could never lead the party because it would be "un-Islamic" . A post on Rahman's X account compared women's work to prostitution — later deleted with claims his account had been hacked — and resurfaced comments saw him deny the existence of marital rape, describing it as "immoral women and men coming together outside marriage" .

Among the party's policy proposals: reducing women's working hours from eight to five, with the government subsidising lost income so women could spend more time at home . In a country where women comprise 44 percent of the workforce — the highest proportion in South Asia, according to the International Labour Organization — the proposal struck many as a direct challenge to hard-won economic independence .

"These are the kinds of views and policies you hear in Iran and Afghanistan," said Zayba Tahzeeb, a 21-year-old physics student at a pre-election protest march in Dhaka . "Women's sovereignty, our freedoms, our independence: all are at stake."

In rural areas, girls were reportedly prevented from playing football by religious leaders who deemed it indecent, and women reported mounting harassment for not covering their hair .

A Complicated Mandate

Yet analysts caution against reducing Jamaat's support to religious conservatism alone. Many voters backed the party out of sheer frustration with Bangladesh's two-party duopoly. Since independence in 1971, power has swung between the Awami League and the BNP, both accused of dynastic politics and rampant corruption . Jamaat was particularly popular among young, first-time voters — 42 percent of the electorate — hungry for alternatives .

The election has been called the world's first "Gen Z-inspired" vote, following the youth-led protests that brought down Hasina . A constitutional referendum on the July Charter, held alongside the election, passed with widespread approval .

Shafiqur Rahman conceded defeat and struck a conciliatory tone, telling reporters Jamaat would not engage in "politics of opposition for the sake of it" and would instead pursue "positive politics" . The party did, however, allege irregularities in vote counting in several narrow constituencies, saying they raised "serious questions about the integrity of the results process" .

What Comes Next

Tarique Rahman's path to the prime minister's office completes one of South Asia's more improbable political arcs. The son of former prime minister Khaleda Zia and former president Ziaur Rahman — who was assassinated in 1981 — he spent 17 years in London exile before returning in December 2025 .

India was among the first countries to congratulate the BNP, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi extending what observers described as an "olive branch" after relations between Delhi and Dhaka had deteriorated sharply since Hasina's fall . The United States and Pakistan also sent congratulations .

"More than anything, I'm hoping this BNP government remembers why people risked their lives to vote — we wanted an end to fear, not just a change of faces," said Sadia Chowdhury, a 25-year-old master's student at Jahangirnagar University . "If they can give us jobs based on merit, rein in political violence and prove that the law applies to everyone, then maybe we'll finally feel this country belongs to us again."

The largely peaceful nature of polling day was itself seen as a milestone. Across Dhaka, police officers on horses wore blankets bearing the message: "Police are here, vote without fear" . For a country that has endured decades of political violence, rigged elections and authoritarian rule, the simple act of queuing to vote without intimidation may prove the election's most lasting achievement — regardless of which parties benefit.

The harder question is whether Jamaat-e-Islami's 68-seat bloc will push Bangladesh's politics in a more conservative direction, or whether the party's leadership will moderate its rhetoric now that it faces the scrutiny of parliamentary opposition. For the women who marched through Dhaka at midnight before the election, torches held aloft, the answer cannot come soon enough.