ASSOCIATED PRESS
Dhaka, Bangladesh – 07 February, 2026
1. Wide of Tarique Rahman’s daughter, Zaima Rahman at election campaign, distributing leaflets on behalf of the constituency from which her father is contesting the election UPSOUND (Bangla) “Please vote for my father on the 12th. My name is Zaima. Vote for the Sheaf of Paddy (party symbol).”
2. Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) supporters chanting slogans, marching
3. Various of BNP candidate carrying the BNP electoral symbol Sheaf of Paddy
4. Various of National Citizen Party (NCP) Convener Nahid Islam conducting election campaign

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Dhaka, Bangladesh – 06 February, 2026
4. Wide of police throwing sound grenades towards the protesters who were demanding justice for student leader Sharif Osman Hadi who was killed in December
5. Mid of police chasing protesters
6. Mid of police carrying sound grenades in their hands
7. Wide of police chasing protesters
++NIGHT SHOTS++
8. Wide of protesters throwing rocks towards police vans
9. Various of protesters setting fire on the road, chanting
10. SOUNDBITE (Bangla) Shilpi (last name not given), protester:
“During the Hasina government, police brutality reached such levels that we could not live without shame; we detest those incidents. Now, under this interim government, we can never expect the police to attack again with the intent of killing our children. Where do they get such audacity—how do they dare? Do they think they can continue sitting in their chairs after killing our children? We do not accept this, and we cannot accept it.”
11. Wide of protesters chanting and marching to join the main protest

STORYLINE:
Campaigning is underway for Bangladesh’s first national elections since the 2024 uprising that ousted longtime Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The major political parties are holding campaign rallies in the capital, Dhaka, and elsewhere ahead of Feb 12 election, which is seen as the most consequential in Bangladesh’s history as it follows Hasina's ouster and is being held under an interim government with voters also deciding on proposed political reforms.

The interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus has pledged to hold a free and fair election though the activities of Hasina's former ruling Awami League party have been banned and the party excluded from the election.

Awami League party and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party ( BNP) have historically dominated the country’s electorate.

Tarique Rahman, BNP chairman and the son of former prime minister Khaleda Zia, is widely seen as a leading contender for prime minister.

His party has drawn strong support rooted in the political legacy of his mother who died in December.

Rahman returned to Bangladesh after 17 years in exile in the United Kingdom.

A new party formed by student leaders of the 2024 uprising, the National Citizen Party, or NCP, is part of 11-party alliance led by Jamaat-e-Islami, an Islamist party.

There are also concerns about the country's law and order situation, but the government says they will keep the voting peaceful.

On Friday, clashes erupted in Dhaka between the police and protesters over the demand for justice for student activist Sharif Osman Hadi who died of gunshot wounds sustained in an attack in Dhaka in December.

Hadi took part in the 2024 political uprising that ended Hasina's 15-year rule and planned to run as an independent candidate in the upcoming elections.

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