Hill Voice, 13 February 2026, Special Correspondent: Like the rest of the country, the 13th Jatiya Sangsad Elections and Referendum were held on 12 February 2026 in three parliamentary constituencies of Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT). Three candidates of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) won by a huge margin in the three constituencies. Advocate Dipen Dewan won in 299 Rangamati Hill Constituency, Saching Prue Jerry won in 300 Bandarban Hill Constituency and Abdul Wadud Bhuiyan won in 298 Khagrachhari Hill Constituency.

This time, from the three constituencies of the CHT, Rangamati parliamentary constituency candidate Advocate Dipen Dewan received the highest number of votes, a total of 201,844, while his nearest rival, independent candidate Pahel Chakma, received 31,142 votes. On the other hand, 141,455 votes were cast for Bandarban parliamentary constituency, Saching Prue Jerry, while 26,162 votes were cast for his nearest rival, National Citizens Party (NCP) candidate Abu Sayeed Md. Sujauddin and 151,040 votes were cast for Khagrachari parliamentary constituency, Abdul Wadud Bhuiyan, while 68,315 votes were cast for his nearest rival, independent candidate Dharma Jyoti Chakma.

It is worth mentioning that on February 12, 2026, elections were held for 299 out of 300 parliamentary seats in the National Parliament. 50 political parties including BNP and Jamaat participated in these elections. 2,028 candidates contested for 299 seats in these elections. Out of them, 1,755 were from political parties and 273 were independent candidates. According to media reports, out of the 299 seats, the BNP alliance won 212 seats, the Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party electoral alliance won 77 seats, the Islami Andolan Bangladesh won 1, and independent and other parties won 7 seats.

In addition, the announcement of the results of 2 seats – Chittagong-2 and Chittagong-4 – was postponed until the writing of this report. Needless to say, BNP is going to form the government by winning by a huge margin.

There have been reports of widespread clashes and fake voting in various parts of the country in this election. Nine people have reportedly died across the country due to clashes and illness at polling stations. 34 people have been arrested for attempting to cast fake vote. Ballot papers were snatched in some centers. In some centers, polling agents of rival candidates were thrown out of booths. In some areas, voters have been threatened with death if they do not vote for their supported candidates.

It has been alleged that supporters of BNP candidate Abdul Wadud Bhuiyan in the Khagrachari parliamentary constituency took over the polling stations and cast fake votes in some centers of Ramgarh, Manikchari, Guimara, Matiranga and Dighinala. Abdul Wadud Bhuiyan’s supporters tried to snatch ballot boxes and ballot papers in the Rasik Nagar Para center of Dighinala. When the law and order forces took immediate action, the stolen ballot boxes and ballot papers were recovered.

In Khagrachhari district, the anti-CHT Accord UPDF (Prasit) abducted 5 people for campaigning for independent candidate Samiran Dewan in the football symbol. Among them, a villager named Himel Chakma Jubakke was abducted by UPDF (Prasit) armed terrorists from his house in Machyachara Para of Logang Union of Panchari Upazila at 9 pm on February 7, and three villagers named Chaithoi U Marma, U Thowai Aung Marma and Areshe Marma were abducted by UPDF (Prasit) armed terrorists from Shilchari area of Barmachari Union of Laxmichari Upazila at 6:20 pm on February 11.

On the other hand, a villager named Chaihlamong Marma, a supporter of Samiran Dewan, was abducted by armed UPDF terrorists from the Kutukchari Non-govt Primary School polling station in the same union at 9 am on election day (February 12). As of the time of writing this report, the UPDF (Prasit) terrorists have not yet released anyone.

The UPDF (Prasit) group carried out this heinous act of kidnapping to force the villagers to vote for the horse symbol candidate Dharma Jyoti Chakma in the 13th National Parliamentary elections and to create panic and fear among them. Not only that, the UPDF (Prasit) group threatened to bring several kilograms of dry shark fish (to feed the guests at the funeral) to anyone who did not vote for Dharma Jyoti Chakma in the horse symbol.

Although Abdul Wadud Bhuiyan is already known as the godfather of terrorism, a radical communalist and ultra nationalist in the hilly areas, the main reason behind his huge victory is that an opportunistic section of Jumma people voted for him, according to experts. Experts believe that Marma voters in particular and some Tripura and Chakma voters voted for Wadud in the hope of gaining benefits.

Many have alleged that Abdul Wadud Bhuiyan, in order to divide the Jumma and minority voters and to prevent a potentially strong rival, Samiran Dewan, the UPDF has strategically fielded Dharma Jyoti Chakma to contest the elections by giving a large sum of money through secret agreements long ago. At one point, Dharma Jyoti Chakma even decided to withdraw his nomination. But the UPDF cunningly kept Dharma Jyoti Chakma in their custody and passed the date for withdrawal of nomination. In addition, it is known that in some places, some ordinary Jumma people, fed up with the long-standing harassment and arrogant activities by the UPDF, have also voted for Wadud Bhuiyan.

On the other hand, the Election Commission has said that the ‘no’ vote has won in three parliamentary constituencies of the CHT in the referendum results. According to the results sheet published by the Election Commission, in three constituencies in the CHT – Bandarban, Rangamati and Khagrachari constituencies – the ‘no’ vote has received more than the ‘yes’ vote. Many experts believe that this is a result of the interim government ignoring the proper representation and opinions of the people of the CHT areas in the reform process and the July Charter formulation process.

In Rangamati, 71,699 ‘yes’ votes were cast and 179,805 ‘no’ votes were cast, which is the highest in terms of margin. The total number of voters in this constituency is 5 lakh 9 thousand 267.

In Khagrachari, 144,355 ‘yes’ votes were cast and 155,942 ‘no’ votes were cast. The total number of voters in this constituency is 554,113.

On the other hand, in Bandarban, 71417 ‘yes’ votes were cast and 90,156 ‘no’ votes were cast. The total number of voters in this constituency is 315,422.

The referendum saw a 60.26 percent voter turnout, with the “yes” vote winning a clear majority, according to the Election Commission (EC). As per the official figures, 4,80,74,429 votes were cast in favour of “yes”, while 2,25,65,627 voters chose “no”, EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed, said today while talking to reporters at the EC.

With the ‘Yes’ vote in the referendum, initiatives will now be taken to reform some important aspects of the constitution within the framework of the issues agreed upon in the July National Charter. This work will be done by the MPs who won the parliamentary elections. They will be known as members of the ‘Constitutional Reform Council’ until 180 days before the start of the parliamentary session. That is, they will bring the necessary reforms to the constitution in light of the issues agreed upon in the July Charter.