Hasina's AL secures big win as Oppn skips poll

Dhaka: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina secured a record fourth straight term as her Awami League party was on Sunday led in most of the seats in the general elections marred by sporadic violence and a boycott by the main opposition BNP and its allies.

Hasina won the Gopalganj-3 seat for the eighth time since 1986. She bagged 249,965 votes while her nearest rival M Nizam Uddin Lashkar from the Bangladesh Supreme Party secured just 469 votes, bdnews24 reported.

The 76-year-old leader, who has been ruling the strategically located South Asian nation since 2009, is set to secure a record fourth consecutive term and fifth overall term in the one-sided election.

According to the Daily Star newspaper, Awami League has so far won 8 out of 9 seats in the 300-member parliament. The Jatiya Party has won one seat.

However, the Dhaka Tribune newspaper reported that the Awami League has won in 79 constituencies while the Jatiya Party secured five seats.

Independent candidates won the race in 23 seats, it added. Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader claimed that the people have rejected the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami's boycott of the election by casting their ballots.

"I sincerely thank those who braved the fear of vandalism, arson, and terrorism to participate in the 12th national parliamentary elections,” Quader said.

Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader won the Rangpur-3 seat in the 12th national parliamentary election. (PTI)