BNP Leader Harunur Rashid Calls the 2026 Election a 'Meticulous Design'

Harunur Rashid, adviser to the BNP chairperson and administrator of the district council, has described the election of 12 February 2026 as a 'meticulous design election'.

He made the remarks as chief guest at a rally organised by the Gobratola union BNP in Chapainawabganj Sadar upazila on Monday evening (2 November).

Harunur Rashid alleged that, to satisfy Jamaat-e-Islami, Dr Muhammad Yunus gave the party seats across the country according to its demand. He alleged that otherwise Jamaat would not have joined the election.

He said Jamaat-e-Islami's vote was never 190,000 on any day, and will not be in the future either. In his words, Dr Yunus left after satisfying Jamaat-e-Islami by giving it the seats it wanted across Bangladesh — that is history, that is what happened.

Harunur Rashid also said Jamaat-e-Islami wanted PR, that a referendum had to be held, and that otherwise it had said it would not contest the election. In his words, if the election had not been held then, a crisis would have been created, Dr Yunus would have had to leave, and he could not have prolonged his time in power.

He alleged that an understanding was reached with Jamaat-e-Islami at that time over which seats it wanted. He claimed that the list Jamaat-e-Islami gave to Dr Yunus was exactly what was given to the party to satisfy it before he left.

Claiming that the BNP was not defeated in Chapainawabganj, Harunur Rashid said: 'You did not lose. I say this taking responsibility — you did not lose. The BNP did not lose in Chapainawabganj. It was Dr Yunus's meticulous design election. That is the real fact.'

Also present at the rally were former Chapainawabganj Sadar upazila council vice-chairman Nazrul Islam, former Gobratola union BNP general secretary Tasem Ali and others.