The Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Monday announced a list of its potential candidates for 237 constituencies in the upcoming 13th Jatiya Sangsad elections announced to be held in the first half of February 2026.
BNP chair Khaleda Zia will contest for her traditional constituencies 鈥� Bogura-7 and Feni-1 鈥� as well as for Dinajpur-3, marking her first time contesting for the northern district seat.
Party acting chair Tarique Rahman will contest, for the first time, for Bogura-6 while secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir will run for the Thakurgaon-1 seat.
Fakhrul read out the names of the potential candidates at a press briefing at the party chair鈥檚 office at Gulshan on Monday.
He said, 鈥榳e are announcing the names of possible candidates for 237 constituencies.鈥�
鈥榃e will finalise the candidates for the remaining seats through discussions with those who were with us in the simultaneous movement,鈥� he said.
鈥楾here might be changes in some seats. We want to make it clear that this is a preliminary list,鈥� he added,
Following the recommendations of the July Charter, the BNP is fielding female candidates for 5 per cent of the 300 constituencies for the upcoming polls.
Among the 237 constituencies, Khaleda Zia is the only one contesting for multiple seats. Out of the total, 10 women, including Khaleda, have been nominated for 12 constituencies.
Apart from Khaleda, Shama Obaid got nomination for Faridpur-2. She currently serves as the organising secretary of the party.
Her father, the late KM Obaidur Rahman, was the BNP secretary general (1986鈥�88) and held ministerial positions in several ministries.
Chowdhury Nayab Yusuf received nomination (Faridpur-3). she is the joint general secretary of the Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Mohila Dal.
Her father, the late Chowdhury Kamal Ibne Yusuf, was a BNP vice-chairman and former minister.
Sanjida Islam Tuli, coordinator of 鈥楳ayer Dak鈥�, a platform of families of the victims of enforced听 disappearance has been nominated for Dhaka-14 seat.
Tahsina Rushdir Luna received the Sylhet-2 seat. She was the wife of former BNP lawmaker Ilias Ali, who was a victim of enforced disappearance during the Awami League regime in 2012.
Besides, Afroza Khanom Rita (Manikganj-3), Israt Sultana Elaine Bhutto (jhalakathi 2), Farzana Sharmin Putul (Nator-1), Sansila Zebrin Priyanka (Sherpur-1), and Sabira Sultana Munni (Jessore-2).
Tarique Rahman, the eldest son of Khaleda Zia, is contesting in a national election for the first time. He has been living in London since September 11, 2008, when he left the country during the army controlled caretaker government.
BNP leaders have repeatedly been saying that Tarique would return to Bangladesh in November, but no specific date has been announced yet.
The BNP, which held power three times in the past, won 30 seats in the 2008 ninth Jatiya Sangsad polls.
The Awami League, which won that election, went on to retain power in the three subsequent controversial elections.
The BNP boycotted the 2014 and 2024 elections. In 2018, as part of the Jatiya Oikya Front alliance, the BNP won only five seats.
With the Awami League 鈥� ousted in the August 5, 2024 uprising 鈥� absent from the electoral race, the BNP is eyeing a return to power in the upcoming polls.
Among the BNP standing committee members, Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain (Cumilla-1), Mirza Abbas (Dhaka-8), Gayeshwar Chandra Roy (Dhaka-3), Abdul Moyeen Khan (Narsingdi-2), Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury (Chattogram-10), Salahuddin Ahmed (Cox鈥檚 Bazar-1), Hafiz Uddin Ahmed (Bhola-3), AZM Zahid Hossain (Dinajpur-6), and Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku (Sirajganj-2) got the party鈥檚 primary nominations.
The BNP vice-chairs that have been nominated include Altaf Hossain Chowdhury (Patuakhali-1), Barkat Ullah Bulu (Noakhali-3), Mohammad Shahjahan (Noakhali-4), Abdul Awal Mintoo (Feni-3), Nitai Roy Chowdhury (Magura-2), Kazi Shah Mofazzal Hossain Kaikobad (Cumilla-3), and Ahmed Azam Khan (Tangail-8).
From the party chair鈥檚 advisory council, nominees include Monirul Haque Chowdhury (Cumilla-6), Aman Ullah Aman (Dhaka-2), Mahbub Uddin Khokon (Noakhali-1), Zainul Abdin Farroque (Noakhali-4), Zahir Uddin Swapan (Barishal-1), Mojibur Rahman Sarwar (Barishal-5), Lutfozzaman Babar (Netrakona-4), Tajvir-ul Islam (Kurigram-3), Habibur Rahman Habib (Pabna-4), Enamul Haque Chowdhury (Sylhet-6), Abdus Salam Pintu (Tangail-2), Zainal Abedin (VP Zainal) (Feni-2), Fazlur Rahman (Kishoreganj-4), and Naser Rahman (Moulvibazar-3), Mushfiqur Rahman (Brahmanbaria-4), Afroza Khan Rita (Manikganj-3), Moinul Islam Khan (Manikganj-2), Khandaker Abdul Muktadir (Sylhet-1), Tahmina Rashdir Luna (Sylhet-2), Abul Khayer Bhuiyan (Lakshmipur-2).
Former lawmaker Ali Newaz Mahmud Khaiyam got the nomination from Rajbari-1 constituency.
Among the candidates, Freedom fighter Fazlur Rahman who has been suspended from all party post, initially received the BNP nomination from the Kishoreganj-4 constituency.
Earlier in the day, the BNP standing committee held a meeting at the Gulshan office, virtually chaired by acting chair Tarique Rahman from London to finalise the list of the candidates.
Earlier, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami had announced its list of candidates four months ago to contest in the upcoming Jatiya Sangsad elections.
Since then, the Islami Andolan Bangladesh, Khelafat Majlis, Ganatantra Mancha, AB Party, LDP, and most recently the Labour Party have announced their own separate lists for the election.
To view the names of candidates and constituencies, click the link below.
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