Bangladesh to hold general elections on Sunday; PM Hasina poised to win 4th consecutive term amid nationwide strike by Opposition BNP

Bangladesh will go to the polls on January 7; Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to win a fourth straight term; Opposition BNP has called for a 48-hour nationwide general strike.

Bangladesh will go to the polls on January 7. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to win a fourth straight term in the absence of the main Opposition BNP which on January 6 began a 48-hour nationwide strike against the "illegal government" amidst sporadic violence.

A total of 119.6 million registered voters are eligible to vote at Sunday's polls in more than 42,000 polling stations, according to the country’s Election Commission.

More than 1,500 candidates from 27 political parties are contesting in the election besides 436 independent candidates.

Over 100 foreign observers, including three from India, will monitor the 12th general election, which is being held under tight security.

The election commission said voting will start at 8 a.m. and end at 5 p.m.. The results are expected to start flowing from early on January 8.

Prime Minister Hasina's ruling Awami League is expected to win for a straight fourth time as the main Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of former premier Khaleda Zia, 78, who is under house arrest as a convict of graft charges, boycotted the polls.

Ms. Hasina, 76, in a nationally televised address this week has urged the pro-democratic and law-abiding parties not to fuel ideas that “disrupt" the country's constitutional process.