Election campaigning for candidates ends tomorrow

Candidates participating in the 13th National Parliamentary Election and the simultaneous referendum will end their election campaigns tomorrow (February 10) at 7:30am, the Election Commission (EC) has announced.

Election campaigning, which began on January 22, must conclude 48 hours before polling, as stipulated under Section 18 of the EC’s Political Parties and Candidates’ Code of Conduct 2025.

The rules prohibit registered political parties, party-nominated candidates, independent candidates, or anyone on their behalf from starting campaigns earlier than three weeks before voting or continuing campaigns within 48 hours of the vote.

Senior Secretary of the EC Secretariat, Akhtar Ahmed, confirmed that all forms of campaigning will officially end at 7:30am on February 10.

Voting will take place nationwide on February 12, from 7:30am to 4:30pm, using transparent ballot boxes. The parliamentary election and the referendum will be held simultaneously.

Following the recent death of a Jamaat-e-Islami candidate, the election in Sherpur-3 has been cancelled. As a result, voting will be held in 299 parliamentary constituencies.

A total of 51 political parties are participating in the elections, with 2,034 candidates contesting, including 275 independents.

Among political parties, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is fielding the highest number of candidates—291—under the ‘Dhaner Shish’ symbol. Islami Andolan Bangladesh has 258 candidates with the ‘Hat Pakha’ symbol, and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami has 229 candidates with the ‘Daripalla’ symbol.

Other major parties include the Jatiya Party with 198 candidates under the ‘Langol’ symbol and the National Citizen Party (NCP) with 32 candidates contesting under the ‘Shapla Koli’ symbol.

Among independents, 76 candidates are contesting under the ‘Football’ symbol.