Late on Thursday evening, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leaders exuded confidence. “Ground reports from the districts and certificates issued by returning officers point to a two-third majority,” a senior BNP leader told National Herald, as counting continued into the early hours of 13 February. The results proved his assessment to be correct.

In comparison, the Jamaat was more evasive. “I am confident of winning in my constituency (Khulna-5) but wouldn’t like to comment on the overall tally,” Jamaat secretary-general Mia Golam Parwar told National Herald. (Parwar eventually lost to the BNP’s Mohammad Ali Asgar.)

The Jamaat-e-Islami and BNP were one-time allies countering the Awami League’s dominance, with Jamaat’s street mobilisation reinforcing BNP’s campaigns. The Jamaat has questioned the results, accusing BNP of using state apparatus to rig it. Recasting itself as the ‘true’ representative of the 2024 uprising, it argues BNP has merely substituted one form of autocracy for another.

Testing times lie ahead for both. BNP needs to prove quickly that it is a party of governance and has learnt from past mistakes. Jamaat has to prove that it can be a responsible opposition.

While Jamaat has moderated its position and public image, it hasn’t shaken off the tag of the Islamist conservatives who opposed the country’s liberation in 1971. Its refusal to field women candidates and its public statements about women staying at home arguably lost both women and a large section of Gen Z voters. Much will depend on how amenable it is to change. 

During the last few months, it had garnered respect for organisational discipline, its ability to campaign and its use of social media. Some suggested the flush-with-funds Jamaat was backed by America and Pakistan and would actually emerge as the winner. Observers say its defeat signals the victory of a........

© National Herald