The Bangladesh Nationalist Party has emerged as the leading force in the 13th Jatiya Sangsad elections, fielding the highest number of candidates,  290, and securing nearly half of the total votes cast, 49.97 per cent.

The Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami followed as a major contender, fielding 227 candidates and securing 31.76 per cent of the votes, according to Election Commission statistics released on Sunday.

According to the statistics, 274 independent candidates across the country collectively secured 5.79 per cent of the votes cast.

Nationalist Citizen Party, with 32 candidates, secured 3.05 per cent of the vote, while Islami Andolan Bangladesh, fielding 257 candidates, received 2.70 per cent.

The Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish obtained 2.09 per cent of votes from its 34 candidates.

Each of the remaining 45 parties recorded less than 1 per cent of votes.

The commission’s data showed that 45 parties separately bagged less than 1 per cent of the votes.

Besides 274 independents, 50 political parties fielded 1,754 candidates across the country in 13th Jatiya Sangsad elections, held on February 12.

The voter turnout in the election was 59.44 per cent.

The ninth parliamentary election held in 2008, the latest widely participated election in the country, saw a voter turnout of 87.13 per cent.

Out of 300 seats, the Awami League emerged as the dominant party, winning 230 seats and forming the government.

The Awami League-led grand alliance secured 56.45 per cent of the vote, translating into a total of 263 seats.

Individual party results showed the Awami League bagged 48.04 per cent of the vote, while the Bangladesh Nationalist Party obtained 32.5 per cent.

In the ninth JS poll, Jatiya Party captured 7.04 per cent, and Jamaat-e-Islami received 4.7 per cent of the votes.

In the 13th Jatiya Sangsad elections, the Jatiya Party, contesting 199 seats, earned just 0.89 per cent of votes.

Bangladesh Jatiya Party-BJP, which fielded two candidates, secured 0.14 per cent of the total vote share, while Ganasamhati Andolan, with 17 candidates, also secured 0.14 per cent of the votes.

Over 40 parties recorded minimal voter engagement, often below 0.10 per cent.

Leftist groups such as the Communist Party of Bangladesh and Socialist Party of Bangladesh secured 0.08 per cent and 0.05 per cent, respectively, while several parties, including the Ganatantri Party, JAGPA, and Bangladesh Samadhikar Party, fielded only one candidate each and recorded negligible support.

Amar Bangladesh Party and Gono Odhikar Parishad received 0.28 per cent and 0.33 per cent of votes, respectively.

The Election Commission released official results for 297 seats, with the BNP winning 209 constituencies and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami capturing 68.

The National Citizen Party, part of the Jamaat-led 11-party alliance, won six seats, while Islami Andolon Bangladesh secured one.

Additional alliance partners, including Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis, won two seats and Khelafat Majlis secured one.

Among BNP-led alliance members, Gano Odhikar Parishad, Bangladesh Jatiya Party-BJP, and Ganosamhati Andolan each obtained one seat.

Overall, the BNP-led alliance secured 212 seats, with the Jamaat-led coalition winning 77.

Seven were elected as independent candidates.

Voting was conducted in 299 of 300 constituencies on Thursday, alongside a constitutional referendum, in a competitive yet largely peaceful environment, contrasting with previous general elections in Bangladesh.

Polling in Sherpur-3 was postponed following the death of a candidate, and the results for Chattogram-2 and Chattogram-4 remain pending as per court directives.