All rallies banned from Feb 10 to 14
Staff Reporter :
After 19 days of rallies, manifesto launches and intense political campaigning, Bangladesh’s election race is set to conclude on Tuesday morning.
As per directives issued by the Election Commission (EC), all forms of rallies have been prohibited from February 10 to February 14.
With only 48 hours left before voters head to polling stations on Thursday, political activities have entered their final phase in what has been a highly charged democratic contest.
The restriction came into force at 7:30am under the Parliamentary Election Code of
Conduct for Political Parties and Candidates Rules, 2025.
According to the code, no political party, candidate, or anyone acting on their behalf is allowed to conduct electioneering during the final three weeks before polling day, and all campaigning must end 48 hours prior to the start of voting.
The official campaign period began on January 22, following the allocation of election symbols the previous day.
Voting in Thursday’s election will take place from 7:30am to 4:30pm without any break. The 13th parliamentary election and referendum will be held on February 12 in 299 constituencies nationwide, using transparent ballot boxes and ballot papers.
Polling will be held in 299 seats instead of 300, as the Election Commission cancelled voting in Sherpur-3 after the death of a Jamaat-e-Islami candidate.
Ban on Vehicular Movement
The EC has imposed restrictions on motorcycle movement across the country starting three days before and continuing three days after the national election. According to directives issued on January 27, motorcycles will not be allowed to ply from midnight on February 10 until midnight on February 13.
In addition, the movement of four types of vehicles—trucks, microbuses, taxicabs and motorcycles—will remain suspended for 24 hours on election day. Vessel movement will also be restricted on polling day.
No candidate or their supporters will be permitted to set up election camps or conduct campaigns within 400 yards of any polling station. Candidates or anyone acting on their behalf will also be barred from using vehicles to transport voters on election day.
Law Enforcers’ Deployment
Nearly one million members of the armed forces and various law enforcement agencies have been deployed across the country for seven days from February 8 (Sunday) to maintain law and order and ensure compliance with the electoral code during the referendum and parliamentary elections scheduled for February 12.
Additionally, 1,051 executive magistrates have been deployed nationwide from February 8 to February 14 to prevent and take action against violations of election rules.
According to Election Commission data, a total of 970,948 security personnel have been deployed since February 8.
This includes 100,003 Army personnel, 5,000 Navy members, 3,730 Air Force members, 37,453 BGB personnel, 3,585 Coast Guard members, 187,603 police personnel, 9,349 RAB members, 576,483 Ansar and VDP members, 1,922 BNCC cadets, and 45,820 chowkidars and dafaders.
A government circular states that the armed forces, BGB, Coast Guard, RAB, police, Armed Police Battalion (APBn) and Ansar battalions will operate as mobile and striking forces to maintain peace and order in election areas. BGB, RAB, APBn and Ansar battalions will operate at district, upazila and thana levels, while the Coast Guard will be deployed in coastal regions.
Outside metropolitan areas, 16–17 police and Ansar members will be stationed at each normal polling station, while 17–18 personnel will be deployed at vulnerable stations.
In metropolitan areas, 16 security personnel will guard normal polling stations and 17 will be posted at vulnerable ones. In remote areas of 25 districts, 16–18 police and Ansar members will be deployed at each polling station.
One Million Votes Cast by Post
For the first time, the Election Commission, led by Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin, introduced an IT-supported hybrid postal voting system—combining digital registration with manual voting—for expatriate Bangladeshis living in more than 120 countries.
The postal voting system is also being used by government employees posted outside their constituencies, polling officials, and individuals in legal custody. More than one million voters have already cast their ballots through this system.
As of 8:00pm on Monday, a total of 1,031,269 voters—including 511,757 expatriates—had voted by post in the 13th parliamentary election.
In total, 1,528,131 voters were registered for postal voting, including 767,233 expatriates under the Out-of-Country Voting (OCV) programme and 760,898 government officials, polling staff and prisoners under the In-Country Postal Voting (ICPV) programme.
A total of 127,298,522 voters across 299 constituencies are eligible to vote in this election. Of them, 64,620,077 are male, 62,677,232 are female, and 1,213 are third-gender voters. The overall voter count nationwide stands at 127,711,899 across 300 constituencies.
Nearly 800,000 officials will be engaged in election duties at more than 42,600 polling stations nationwide, while a similar number of security personnel will be deployed to protect the polling centres.
Meanwhile, around 50,000 observers from 80 registered domestic organisations will monitor the polls, and nearly 500 foreign observers are expected to oversee the election.
The Election Commission announced the election schedule on December 11 last year, setting February 12, 2026, as the date for the 13th parliamentary election and the referendum on the July National Charter (Constitutional Reform) Implementation Order, to be held simultaneously.