The Tarique Rahman-led Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has secured over 200 seats, claiming a clear majority as the parliamentary count nears completion. With this victory, Rahman is, reportedly, set to be sworn in as Prime Minister this Saturday.
The Election Commission is yet to officially announce the results as the counting is still underway for three constituencies.
As BNP is headed for a landslide victory, the Jamaat-e-Islami has secured over 70 seats, marking the opposition. As Rahman is set to become the PM, he will be replacing the interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.
The Awami League party of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been barred from contesting the polls.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the first few leaders to congratulate Rahman on the BNP's performance. "I convey my warm congratulations to Mr Tarique Rahman on leading BNP to a decisive victory in the Parliamentary elections in Bangladesh," Modi said in a post on X.
"India will continue to stand in support of a democratic, progressive and inclusive Bangladesh. I look forward to working with you to strengthen our multifaceted relations and advance our common development goals," he added.
The election was seen as a direct contest between the BNP and its former ally, Jamaat-e-Islami, in the absence of ousted premier Hasina's now-banned Awami League.
India-Bangladesh relations were strained after New Delhi gave asylum to Hasina following her ouster from Bangladesh. Drawing lessons from Hasina's earlier diplomacy, Rahman's focus must be on repairing the Indo-Bangladesh ties.
Meanwhile, Jamaat has raised allegations of "abnormal delays" and "result tampering," warning that it would launch a tough movement if the public mandate were "snatched away".
Speaking to reporters at the Election Commission building early morning, Jamaat's assistant secretary general Ahsanul Mahboob Zubair alleged that returning officers were intentionally delaying results to favour a "particular party."
"In the seats contested by our top leaders, results should have been declared by 8 pm or 9 pm according to the signed sheets given to polling agents," Zubair was quoted by PTI.
Jamaat's major ally in an 11-party right-wing alliance, the National Citizen Party (NCP), floated with interim government chief Yunus last year, also brought allegations of "result tampering and planned fraud" in multiple Dhaka seats in particular.
"Psychological pressure and administrative manipulation were being used to overturn results, particularly in constituencies contested by top leaders of the Jamaat-led 11-party alliance," NCP spokesman and party's election committee chairman Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuiyan said in a predawn briefing.
Bhuiyan, who until recently served as an adviser or minister in Yunus' interim cabinet, particularly alleged discrepancies in a Dhaka constituency, claiming that although NCP candidate Nahid Islam was leading by nearly 6,000 votes, the returning officer showed a margin of only 1,500 votes in the seat.