Ex-Bangladesh PM Khaleda Zia Set To Contest From Three Constituencies In 2026 National Elections

BNP Announces Candidate List for 237 Constituencies Ahead of 2026 Polls; Khaleda Zia to Contest from Three Seats.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) on Monday released a list of its prospective candidates for 237 constituencies ahead of the 13th Jatiya Sangsad (parliamentary) elections, slated for the first half of February 2026. The upcoming polls will mark Bangladesh’s first major electoral exercise since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s resignation and subsequent flight to India.

In a significant political move, BNP chairperson and former prime minister Khaleda Zia will contest from three constituencies — her traditional bastions Bogura-7 and Feni-1, as well as Dinajpur-3, marking her first foray into the northern district.

The announcement underscores the BNP’s determination to return to mainstream politics after boycotting the 2014 and 2024 general elections over alleged irregularities and its long-standing demand for a neutral caretaker government to oversee voting.

In the 2018 elections, the BNP, contesting as part of the Jatiya Oikya Front alliance, won only five seats — a result that deepened internal rifts and diminished its political standing.

Party insiders said Monday’s list represents the first phase of nominations, with the remaining constituencies to be finalized in the coming weeks. The BNP leadership plans to step up its campaign nationwide in a bid to reassert itself as the main challenger to the ruling Awami League.

Khaleda Zia, who has largely stayed away from active politics in recent years due to health concerns and corruption convictions, is expected to play a symbolic but central role in energizing the party’s rank and file ahead of what is shaping up to be one of Bangladesh’s most competitive elections in decades.