All forms of electioneering for the 13th national parliamentary elections and the referendum scheduled for 12 February ended at 7:30am on Tuesday.
Under Election Commission (EC) regulations, all types of rallies, public meetings, and processions are banned 48 hours before the start of polling.
Speaking at a press conference at the Election Building in Agargaon on Monday (9 February), EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said all election campaigning had to conclude by 7:30am on Tuesday.
EC officials said campaigning must stop 48 hours before voting begins. As polling in this year’s elections will start at 7:30am on 12 February, campaigning was required to end by 7:30am on 10 February. Accordingly, all candidates were instructed to complete their campaign activities within that timeframe. The EC had allowed a 20-day campaign period starting from 22 January.
The election and the referendum will be held simultaneously on 12 February in 299 constituencies across the country.
Recently, the EC cancelled the election in the Sherpur-3 constituency following the death of a Jamaat-e-Islami candidate.
A total of 51 political parties are contesting the election, with 2,034 candidates in total, including 275 independents. Among political parties, the BNP has fielded the highest number of candidates, with 291 contestants running under its symbol, the sheaf of paddy.
Islami Andolon Bangladesh has fielded the second-highest number of candidates, with 258 contestants using the hand fan symbol. Jamaat-e-Islami has 229 candidates contesting under the balance scale symbol, while the Jatiya Party has fielded 198 candidates using the plough symbol.
Meanwhile, the National Citizen Party (NCP) has fielded 32 candidates using the waterlily bud symbol. Among independent candidates, 76 are contesting using the football symbol.