The 12th national elections of Bangladesh will be held on Sunday, which could see Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina retain power for the fourth time in view of the boycott of elections by the main Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
Nearly 119.6 million people will vote to elect 299 lawmakers out of 300 constituencies at Sunday's polls in more than 42,000 polling stations, according to the country's Election Commission. Voting began at 8 am local time and will continue till 5 pm.
The election eve was marred by violence and a crackdown on protesters. A passenger train was set ablaze killing four people, in an alleged act of arson. Several polling booths and institutions were also gutted and over 800,000 police, paramilitary and police auxiliaries have been deployed for the smooth conduct of polls.
Meanwhile, the BNP began a 48-hour nationwide strike against the "illegal government" on Saturday and announced the boycott of elections after Sheikh Hasina denied its demand to resign and let a caretaker government run the election. The BNP will carry out processions and mass campaigns and distribute leaflets against the polls across the country, as reported by the Dhaka Tribune.
Hasina is accused of authoritarianism, human rights violations, crackdowns on free speech and suppression of dissent. BNP's leader Khaleda Zia is under house arrest on corruption charges which the BNP claims are false. Khaleda's son Tarique Rahman, the acting chairman of the party, too faces graft charges but is in exile.
The 27 political parties that are contesting the elections include the opposition Jatiya Party (JAPA). The rest are members of the ruling Awami League-led coalition, which experts dub as "satellite parties." There are allegations that Hasina's Awami League has put up "dummy" candidates as independents to try to make the election look credible, a claim the ruling party denies.
The elections are being held under tight security and the monitoring of over 100 foreign observers, including three from India. Other observers include a team from the European Union and the Commonwealth.
Hasina, 76, has been in power since 2009 and her Awami League won the last election in December 2018. The BNP boycotted the 2014 election but joined the one in 2018.
Hasina, who has been credited with turning around Bangladesh's economy and the garment industry, has maintained close ties with India and in her current manifesto states that it would continue to maintain friendly relations with India. "The long-standing problem of demarcation of land boundaries and exchange of enclaves with India has been resolved. This achievement has encouraged continued multilateral cooperation and friendly relations with India," it read.
