Several high-profile and much-hyped contenders were defeated in Bangladesh’s 13th parliamentary election, delivering a series of surprises that have stirred intense discussion across political circles.
Unofficial results show that a number of senior figures from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, the National Citizen Party, as well as prominent independent candidates, failed to secure their seats despite strong pre-election expectations.
In Khulna-5, Jamaat Secretary General Mia Golam Porwar was edged out by BNP’s Ali Asghar Lobby. Porwar garnered 146,246 votes, while Lobby won with 148,854 — a slim margin of 2,608.
The contest in Dhaka-13 also proved tight. Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish Ameer Mamunul Haque, running under a Jamaat-led alliance, polled 86,067 votes. He was defeated by BNP-backed Bobby Hajjaj, who secured 88,387 votes, winning by 2,320.
A more decisive result emerged in Cox’s Bazar-2, where Jamaat Assistant Secretary General Hamidur Rahman Azad suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of BNP candidate Mahfuzullah Farid, losing by more than 35,000 votes. The scale of the loss surprised many, given Azad’s status as a former MP and influential local figure.
In Dhaka-16, BNP candidate Md Aminul Huq was narrowly defeated by Jamaat nominee Abdul Baten. Aminul Huq polled 85,467 votes, while Baten secured 88,828 — a margin of just 3,361 votes.
In Chapainawabganj-3, BNP’s multi-term MP Harunur Rashid was defeated by Jamaat leader Nurul Islam, a former president of Islami Chhatra Shibir. Rashid secured 127,037 votes, while Nurul Islam surged ahead with 189,640, marking one of the election’s most notable upsets.
A particularly poor showing came in Bogura-2 (Shibganj), where Mahmudur Rahman Manna, president of Nagorik Oikya, contested as an independent with the “Kettle” symbol. Of 243,802 valid votes cast in a constituency with 342,155 voters, he managed just 3,426 votes — around 1.4% — falling well short of the 30,476 votes required to retain his deposit.
In contrast, Sunamganj-2 (Dirai and Shalla) delivered a comfortable BNP victory. Nasir Chowdhury defeated Jamaat candidate Mohammad Shishir Manir, polling 99,522 votes to Manir’s 63,220.
Meanwhile, in Dhaka-9, the much-discussed independent candidate Tasnim Jara finished a distant second with 44,684 votes. BNP’s Habibur Rashid swept the seat with a landslide 111,212 votes.
Together, these results underscore a volatile electoral landscape, with voter sentiment producing unexpected outcomes even in constituencies long considered strongholds of established political heavyweights.
