One big party, Oppn disbanded: How Bangladesh poll resembles striking similarity with Pakistan

With Hasina absent from polls, BNP has emerged as the forerunner in the upcoming elections, with longtime ally Jamaat-e-Islami being the main rival.

Bangladesh is gearing up for general elections on February 12, with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) seen as a frontrunner after 19 months of political unrest following Sheikh Hasina's exit.

Supporters of the Jamaat-e-Islami party attend a rally on the final day of campaigning in Dhaka on February 9, 2026 ahead of the country's general election on February 12. (Photo by Munir UZ ZAMAN / AFP) (AFP)

The election comes about a year-and-a-half after a student-led uprising ousted the Awami League government headed by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024. Hasina has since been living in exile in India while her party has been banned from the electoral process.

With Hasina absent from the political scene in Bangladesh, the BNP has emerged as the forerunner in the upcoming elections, with its longtime ally, Jamaat-e-Islami, being its main rival.

While 2024 witnessed Sheikh Hasina’s ouster, something else too happened that year, miles away from the streets of Dhaka in Pakistan. India’s western neighbour had a general election of its own.

There are some parallels from the 2024 Pakistan general election that can also be seen in Bangladesh this year. Here is a deep dive into some of such parallels.

Bangladesh election 2026: What does Dhaka have in common with Pakistan 2024?

An ousted Prime Minister: Both Bangladesh now and Pakistan two years ago were dealing with the aftermath of an ousted Prime Minister. While Bangladesh’s Sheikh Hasina was outed by massive protests against her government in August 2024, the Imran Khan government was pushed out of power through a no confidence motion in 2023.

While it's true that both the countries had an ousted PM to deal with, circumstances around their removal were entirely different. Bangladesh saw massive student-led protests against the Awami League government, forcing Sheikh Hasina to flee to India. On the other hand, many have alleged that the Pakistani army was behind Imran Khan's removal from the office. Either way, both had the aftermath to deal with.

Party banned: Both Pakistan in 2024 and Bangladesh in 2026 had the ousted ruling party banned for the election. Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf (PTI) was banned from using their name and electoral symbol after a Supreme Court order placed them under a ban for not holding internal polls.

In Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League has been banned from contesting elections.

Independent candidates hold sway: With bans on PTI in Pakistan in 2024 and the Awami League in Bangladesh being barred from the 2026 election, independent candidates become important to watch in both places.

Imran Khan's PTI backed several candidates who fought on independent election symbols, with 93 of them winning the national assembly seats. A total of 101 independents won their seats, making it the largest group of MNAs in the country.

Similarly, while the Awami League cannot contest in Bangladesh, the party may end up supporting independents, although no such indication has come till now. Even if it doesn't happen, voter turnout at old Awami League bastions like Gopalganj, Shariatpur, Bagerhat, and parts of Faridpur and Rajbari will be key to show if the elections held without Hasina’s party were indeed successful or not.

Clear path in elections: The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), the two main outfits in Pakistan, fought the 2024 general elections in an alliance with each other in PTI’s absence. This gave them a clear path to power and PML-N’s Shehbaz Sharif became the Prime Minister of the country.

Late Khaleda Zia's BNP also has a clear path to win the Bangladesh general election as their main rival Awami League is absent from the polls, a reversal of fortunes from the 2024 elections which the BNP boycotted. Party’s current chief and Zia’s son Tarique Rehman is the clear front runner for the post.

So will the BNP win by a landslide as expected or will the likes of Jamaat-e-Islami end up making their own inroads after years on the fringes? Either way, the Bangladesh 2026 election seems eeriely similar to Pakistan polls in 2024.