Overview

• In a BBC Bangla interview, the BNP acting chairman said he will return "soon" from long-term exile in London and confirmed he is running.
• The vote is scheduled for February 2026, the first national election since the 2024 uprising that removed Sheikh Hasina.
• Since Hasina’s fall, courts have cleared him of the most serious case, overturning a life sentence in absentia tied to a 2004 grenade attack.
• With the Awami League banned and its registration suspended, the BNP is positioned as the leading organized contender while Jamaat-e-Islami and the newly registered NCP seek traction.
• The BNP now says a referendum on Muhammad Yunus’s July Declaration could be held on election day, and Khaleda Zia’s role remains uncertain because of health concerns.