BJP wins a seat in Bangladesh — But not the one you think!

In the 13th general elections, the party secured one seat, with Andaleeve Rahman Partho winning the Bhola-1 constituency. He polled 105,543 votes, defeating his nearest rival, Md Nazrul Islam of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, who secured 75,337 votes, according to BSS.

As per results declared by the Election Commission, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by Tarique Rahman, returned to power with 209 seats. Together with its allies, the BNP secured 212 seats in the 297-member parliament.

Jamaat-e-Islami and its allies won 77 seats in the polls, which were the first general elections held in Bangladesh since the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina amid widespread protests on August 5, 2024 — an episode referred to in the country’s history as the July–August Uprising.

During his campaign, Partho pledged to transform Bhola into the southern region’s “Tilottama” — a modern and beautiful city. He listed construction of the Bhola–Barishal Bridge, establishment of a medical college, and provision of household gas connections among his top priorities.

Barrister Andaleeve Rahman Partho is a lawyer-turned-politician and also serves as the principal of the British School of Law in Dhaka.

In the 2008 general elections, he defeated Awami League candidate Yusuf Hossain Humayun from the Bhola-1 constituency while contesting as part of the then four-party alliance.