Bangladesh election: BNP accuses Jamaat-e-Islami of trying to buy votes hours before polling

BNP accuses Jamaat-e-Islami of vote-buying ahead of Bangladesh's 2026 election; JEI denies claims, calling them a staged drama.

Hours before polling, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Wednesday (February 11, 2026) accused the largest Islamist Party Jamaat-E-Islami (JEI) of attempting to sabotage the election process by using money power.

The accusation was made after a JEI leader was caught with nearly Taka 74 lakh in Saidpur airport in north Bangladesh amid social media reports that several such Jamaat leaders have been recorded distributing cash among voters.

JEI has countered the accusation and said the incident was a “staged drama” by law enforcement agencies.

“At a time when all banks, financial institutions, business transactions and activities are closed to prevent illegal financial dealings in the election, naturally, questions are arising everywhere – from what source did the top leader of Jamaat in one district obtain this vast amount of money, for what purpose, to whom was it intended for, and why was he traveling from Dhaka to Thakurgaon on the eve of election,” said Mahdi Amin, Spokesperson of BNP’s Election Steering Committee alleging that there have been reports of Jamaat leaders distributing cash in multiple other constituencies including Dhaka-15 where the JEI’s Ameer Shafiqur Rahman is contesting election.

BNP and Jamaat, who were coalition partners during 2001-’06, are pitted against each other in the absence of the Awami League whose activities remain banned.

Over the past several days the two parties have clashed on multiple occasions and on Tuesday in Bogura, a BNP leader was injured after he was attacked by Jamaat supporters. Mr. Amin accused JEI of collecting bKash financial transfer numbers and Voter IDs of citizens and planning to hand over cash to voters. “The Saidpur Airport incident cannot be viewed as an isolated event,” said Mr. Amin. He further said that “a particular party” is accumulating “domestic weapons” and intimidating voters.