Bangladesh elections: BNP's Hindu leader wins from Dhaka constituency

Dhaka: Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, a senior BNP leader from the minority Hindu community, won a Dhaka constituency on Friday in Bangladesh's 13th national parliamentary election.

Roy won the Dhaka-3 seat with 99,163 votes, defeating his nearest rival, Jamaat-e-Islami candidate Md Shahinur Islam, the state-run BSS news agency reported.

The former state minister's win from the Dhaka seat comes in the backdrop of alleged harassment of the minority Hindu community members in the country.

The community has faced a series of attacks, some fatal, after the killing of radical youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi in December. India has been expressing concerns over attacks on minorities, especially Hindus, in Bangladesh.

Separately, the lone Hindu candidate fielded by the radical Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami party was defeated in the Khulna-1 constituency. Krishna Nandi received 70,346 votes in the electoral contest, where BNP contender Amir Ejaz Khan secured 1,21,352 votes.

The 13th parliamentary elections in Bangladesh will elect a government that will replace the interim administration headed by Muhammad Yunus.

The relations between India and Bangladesh were strained after the interim government assumed charge following the collapse of the Sheikh Hasina government in August 2024.

The BNP is moving towards a sweeping victory in the landmark parliamentary polls, set to return to power after a gap of two decades.