List of political parties in Bangladesh

This article lists political parties in People's Republic of Bangladesh.

Since the restoration of parliamentary democracy in 1991, Bangladesh has a fading two-party system, which means that two political parties dominate the general elections centrist Awami League (AL), and centre-right, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), with extreme difficulty for anybody to achieve electoral success under the banner of another party.

Although the AL and BNP dominated Bangladeshi politics for a long time, the two are currently leading coalitions of like-minded parties, with the AL leading the left-of-centre parties and the BNP rallying the right-of-centre parties.^[1]

A party is recognised as a registered party only if it fulfils one of the conditions listed below:^[2]

A party needs to secure at least one seat with its electoral symbol in two previous parliamentary elections.

Securing of five percent of total votes cast in the constituencies in which its candidates took part in any of the aforesaid parliamentary elections.

It needs to set up a functional central office, by whatever name it may be called with a central committee, having offices at least in one-third administrative districts, and offices at least in 100 upazilas or metropolitan thanas. And the party must have a minimum 200 voters as its members in each upazila.

Parties in the parliament prior to dissolution

These were all of the political parties that held at least one seat in the Jatiya Sangsad. The 12th Jatiya Sangsad was dissolved on 6 August 2024. This is the state prior to the dissolution.

Symbol or flag	Name	Founded	Ideology	Leader	MPs	Political position	Affiliation	Local government
Symbol or flag	Name	Founded	Ideology	Leader	MPs	Political position	Affiliation	Municipalities	Cities	Villages
	Bangladesh Awami League বাংলাদেশ আওয়ামী লীগ Bangladesh People's League	1949		Sheikh Hasina	271 / 350	Centre-left to Centre^[a]	GA	136 / 330	10 / 12	2,187 / 4,562
	Jatiya Party (Ershad) জাতীয় পার্টি National Party (Ershad)	1986	Bangladeshi nationalism Conservatism	GM Quader	13 / 350	Right-wing		1 / 330	1 / 12	16 / 4,562
	Workers Party of Bangladesh বাংলাদেশের ওয়ার্কার্স পার্টি	1980	Communism Marxism–Leninism	Rashed Khan Menon	1 / 350	Far-left	GA	0 / 330	0 / 12	2 / 4,562
	Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal জাতীয় সমাজতান্ত্রিক দল National Socialist Party	1972	Socialism	Hasanul Haq Inu	1 / 350	Left-wing	GA	1 / 330	0 / 12	2 / 4,562
	Bangladesh Kalyan Party বাংলাদেশ কল্যাণ পার্টি Bangladesh Welfare Party	2007	Welfarism Bangladeshi nationalism Islamic democracy	Syed Muhammad Ibrahim	1 / 350	Radical centre		0 / 330	0 / 12	0 / 4,562
	Ganatantri Party গণতন্ত্রী পার্টি Democratic Party	1990	Socialism	Arosh Ali	1 / 350	Left-wing		0 / 330	0 / 12	0 / 4,562
	Independents স্বতন্ত্র				62 / 350			0 / 330	1 / 12	1,562 / 4,562

Alliances

Grand Alliance

The Grand Alliance ({Bengali: মহাজোট) is an alliance of political parties in Bangladesh that was formed in 2008. It consist of the Awami League, Jatiya Party (Ershad), Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, Workers Party, Liberal Democratic Party, Jatiya Party (Manju), Bangladesh Tarikat Federation, Ganatantri Dol, Communist Party of Bangladesh (Marxist-Leninist) (Barua) and Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh.

The Liberal Democratic Party left the Grand Alliance before the election and contested independently. It joined the 18 Party Alliance in 2012.

Left Democratic Alliance

The Left Democratic Alliance is an alliance of eight leftist political parties including Communist Party of Bangladesh, Socialist Party of Bangladesh, Revolutionary Workers Party of Bangladesh, Revolutionary Communist League of Bangladesh, Ganatantrik Biplobi Party, Bam Gonotantrik Andolon and Ganosanhati Andolan.^[6]

Major parties

Since 1991, due to the two-party system, two major parties, Awami League and Bangladesh Nationalist Party constantly dominate the politics and form government.

Awami League

Bangladesh Nationalist Party

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), was founded on 1 September 1978 by President Ziaur Rahman, politician and physician A. Q. M. Badruddoza Chowdhury, human rights activist and lawyer Moudud Ahmed and leftist politician Mashiur Rahman as the key people. BNP has won the second, fifth, sixth and eighth national elections and two presidential elections, in 1978 and 1981 respectively. The party also holds the record of being the largest opposition in the history of parliamentary elections of the country with 116 seats in the seventh national election of 1996.^[7] The party does not have any representation in the parliament after its boycott of the national election of 2014 which the party had termed a scandalous farce and was marked by a very low turnout.^[8]

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami

Registered parties

These are all the parties that are currently registered under Election Commission.^[9]^[10]

R.No.	Name			Founded	Ideology	Leader	Political position	Most MP's
1		LDP	Liberal Democratic Party লিবারেল ডেমোক্রেটিক পার্টি	2006	Economic liberalisation	Oli Ahmad	Centre	1 (2008)
2		JP-M	Jatiya Party (Manju) জাতীয় পার্টি (মঞ্জু)	2014	Bangladeshi nationalism Conservatism	Anwar Hossain Manju	Centre-right	2 (2014)
3		BSD-ML	Bangladesh Samyabadi Dal বাংলাদেশের সাম্যবাদী দল		Communism Marxism–Leninism	Dilip Barua	Far-left	0
4		KSJL	Krishak Sramik Janata League কৃষক শ্রমিক জনতা লীগ	1999	Socialism Socialist democracy	Bangabir Kader Siddique	Centre-left	1 (2001)
5		CPB	Communist Party of Bangladesh বাংলাদেশের কমিউনিস্ট পার্টি	1968	Communism Marxism-Leninism	Shah Alam	Far-left	5 (1991)
6		AL	Bangladesh Awami League বাংলাদেশ আওয়ামী লীগ	1949		Sheikh Hasina	Centre left to Centre^[b]	293 (1973)
7		BNP	Bangladesh Nationalist Party বাংলাদেশ জাতীয়তাবাদী দল	1978	Conservatism National conservatism Economic liberalism	Khaleda Zia	Centre-right	278 (1996)
8		GP	Ganatantri Party গণতন্ত্রী পার্টি		Secularism	Md Arash Ali		1 (2024)
9		NAP	National Awami Party ন্যাশনাল আওয়ামী পার্টি	1967	Socialism	Amina Ahmed		1 (1979, 1991)
10		WPB	Workers Party of Bangladesh বাংলাদেশের ওয়ার্কার্স পার্টি	1980	Communism Marxism-Leninism	Rashed Khan Menon	Far-left	6 (2014)
11		BDB	Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh বিকল্পধারা বাংলাদেশ	2004	Bangladeshi nationalism Conservatism	A. Q. M. Badruddoza Chowdhury	Centre	2 (2018)
12		JP-E	Jatiya Party (Ershad) জাতীয় পার্টি (এরশাদ)	1986	Bangladeshi nationalism Conservatism Populism	GM Quader	Centre-right	251 (1988)
13		JASAD	Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal জাতীয় সমাজতান্ত্রিক দল	1972	Socialism	Hasanul Haque Inu	Left-wing	8 (1979)
14	Registration cancelled
15		JSD	Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (Rab) জাতীয় সমাজতান্ত্রিক দল	2002	Socialism	A.S.M Abdur Rab	Left	4 (1986)
16		ZP	Zaker Party জাকের পার্টি		Sufism	Mustafa Amir Faisal	Right wing	0
17		SPB	Socialist Party of Bangladesh বাংলাদেশের সমাজতান্ত্রিক দল	1980	Communism Marxism-Leninism	Comrade Bazlur Rashid Firoz	Left	0
18		BJP	Bangladesh Jatiya Party বাংলাদেশ জাতীয় পার্টি	2001	Nationalism	Barrister Andaleeve Rahman Partho	Centre	4 (2001)
19		BTF	Bangladesh Tarikat Federation বাংলাদেশ তরিকত ফেডারেশন	2005	Sufism (Maizbhandarism) Secularism	Syed Najibul Bashar Maizbhandari	Right-wing	2 (2014)
20		BKF	Khilafat Andolan বাংলাদেশ খেলাফত আন্দোলন	1981	Islamic democracy	Mawlana Ataullah	Right	0
21		BML	Bangladesh Muslim League বাংলাদেশ মুসলিম লীগ	1906	Muslim nationalism	Jubeda Kader Chaudhuri		20 (1979)
22		NPP	National People's Party ন্যাশনাল পিপলস্‌ পার্টি			Sheikh Salauddin Salu		0
23		JUI	Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Bangladesh জমিয়তে উলামায়ে ইসলাম বাংলাদেশ		Islamic democracy	Sheikh Zia Uddin		0
24		GF	Gano Forum গণফোরাম	1992	Secularism	Kamal Hossain	Centre	2 (2018)
25		GF	Gano Front গণফ্রন্ট	1995	Secularism	Jakir Hossain	Left wing	0
26	Registration cancelled
27		BDNAP	Bangladesh National Awami Party-Bangladesh NAP বাংলাদেশ ন্যাশনাল আওয়ামী পার্টি-বাংলাদেশ ন্যাপ	2006	Socialism	Jebel Rahman Ghaani		0
28		BJP	Bangladesh Jatiya Party বাংলাদেশ জাতীয় পার্টি			M. A. Mukit		0
29	Registration cancelled
30		IFB	Islamic Front Bangladesh ইসলামিক ফ্রন্ট বাংলাদেশ		Mujaddedism	Bahadur Shah Mujaddedi		0
31		BKP	Bangladesh Kallyan Party বাংলাদেশ কল্যাণ পার্টি		Islamic democracy Bangladeshi nationalism Welfarism	Sayad Muhammad Ibrahim		1 (2024)
32		IOJ	Islami Oikya Jote ইসলামী ঐক্যজোট		Islamic democracy	Abul Hasnat Amini		2 (2001)
33		BKM	Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish বাংলাদেশ খেলাফত মজলিস	1989	Islamic democracy	Habibur Rahman		0
34		IAB	Islami Andolan Bangladesh ইসলামী আন্দোলন বাংলাদেশ	1987	Islamism Islamic democracy	Syed Rezaul Karim		0
35		BIF	Bangladesh Islami Front বাংলাদেশ ইসলামী ফ্রন্ট	1990	Sunni Sufism	M.A. Matin		0
36	Registration cancelled
37		BBWP	Bangladesher Biplobi Workers Party বাংলাদেশের বিপ্লবী ওয়ার্কার্স পার্টি	2004	Communism Marxism-Leninism	Saiful Haq		0
38		KM	Khelafat Majlish খেলাফত মজলিস	1989	Islamic democracy	Mawlana Mohammad Ishaq		0
39	Registration cancelled
40		BML-BML	Bangladesh Muslim League-BML বাংলাদেশ মুসলিম লীগ-বিএমএল		Muslim nationalism	A.H.M. Kamruzzaman		20 (1979)
41		BSM	Bangladesh Sanskritik Muktijot বাংলাদেশ সাংস্কৃতিক মুক্তিজোট		Secularism	Abdur Razzak Mullah		0
42		BNF	Bangladesh Nationalist Front বাংলাদেশ ন্যাশনালিস্ট ফ্রন্ট	2012	Secularism	M.A. Abul Kalam Azad		1 (2014)
43		NDM	Jatiotabadi Ganatantric Andolon জাতীয়তাবাদী গণতান্ত্রিক আন্দোলন	2017	Democracy Bangladeshi nationalism	Bobby Hajjaj		0
44		BC	Bangladesh Congress বাংলাদেশ কংগ্রেস	2013	Secularism	Kazi Rezaul Hossain		0
45		Grassroots BNP	Grassroots Bangladesh Nationalist Party তৃণমূল বিএনপি	2015	Secularism	Nazmul Huda		0
46		Insaniyat	Humanity Revolution Bangladesh ইনসানিয়াত বিপ্লব বাংলাদেশ	2010	Humanitarian	Allama Imam Hayat		0
47		BDJSD	Bangladesh Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal- Bangladesh JASAD বাংলাদেশ জাতীয় সমাজতান্ত্রিক দল-জাসদ	2023	Socialism	Sharif Nurul Ambia	Left	0
48		BNM	Bangladesh Nationalist Movement বাংলাদেশ জাতীয়তাবাদী আন্দোলন	2023	Bangladeshi nationalism	Abdur Rahman	Center to Centre-right	0
49		BSP	Bangladesh Supreme Party বাংলাদেশ সুপ্রিম পার্টি	2023	Sufism (Maizbhandarism)	Sayed Saifuddin Ahmed	Right-wing	0
50		AB Party	Amar Bangladesh Party আমার বাংলাদেশ পার্টি	2020		AFM Solaiman Chowdhury	Right-wing	0
51		GOP	Gono Odhikar Parishad-GOP গণঅধিকার পরিষদ-জিওপি	2021	Progressivism	Nurul Haq Nur	Centre	0
52		NO	Nagorik Oikko নাগরিক ঐক্য	2012		Mahmudur Rahman Manna	Left-wing	0
53		GSA	Ganosanhati Andolan গণসংহতি আন্দোলন	2002	Egalitarianism	Zonayed Saki	Left-wing	0

Regional parties

Name			Founded	Ideology	Leader	Political position
	PCJSS	Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti পার্বত্য চট্টগ্রাম জনসংহতি সমিতি	1972	Autonomy of the indigenous tribes of the Chittagong Hill Tracts	Shantu Larma	Left-wing
	UPDF	United People's Democratic Front ইউনাইটেড পিপলস ডেমোক্রেটিক ফ্রন্ট	1998	Autonomy of the indigenous tribes of the Chittagong Hill Tracts	Prasit Bikash Khisa	Left-wing

Outlawed parties

Name	Founded	Ideology	Leader	Political position	Legal status	Note
Maoist Bolshevik Reorganization Movement of the Purba Bangla Sarbahara Party	2001	Communism Maoism		Far-left	Outlawed	^[11] ^[12]
Purba Banglar Sarbahara Party	1971	Communism Maoism	Anwar Kabir	Far-left	Banned	^[13]
Purba Banglar Communist Party	1968	Communism Maoism	Tipu Biswas	Far-left	Banned	^[14]
Kuki-Chin National Front	2008	Autonomy of Kuki-Chin people	Nathan Bom		Banned	^[15]^[16]

Unregistered parties

Notes

^ The Awami League has been accused of far-right authoritarianism since 2021.^[3]^[4]^[5]
^ The Awami League has been accused of far-right authoritarianism since 2021.^[3]^[5]

References

^ "Jatiya Party to contest the national polls with grand alliance | News Flash".
^ কমিশনে রাজনৈতিক দলসমূহের নিবন্ধন আইন, ২০২০ [Commission Political Party Registration Act 2020] (PDF). Election Commission of Bangladesh (in Bengali). 30 June 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
^ ^a ^b Hossain, Akram; Mahmudul, Haque (19 October 2021). Survival Strategies of Jamaat as a Religion-Based Political Opponent in Bangladesh. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 105–123. doi:10.1007/978-981-16-4314-9_7. ISBN 978-981-16-4314-9. S2CID 239951371.
^ Khan, Q. M. Jalal (25 June 2021). President Ziaur Rahman: Legendary Leader of Bangladesh. Writers Republic LLC. ISBN 9781637285749.
^ ^a ^b Ruud, Arild; Hasan, Mubashar (18 October 2021). Masks of Authoritarianism Hegemony, Power and Public Life in Bangladesh. Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore. p. 112. ISBN 9789811643149.
^ "Leftist parties form new Left Democratic Alliance as general election nears". bdnews24.com. 19 July 2018. Archived from the original on 18 July 2018. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
^ "Bangladesh Election Results". Bangladesh Election Commission. 10 April 2008.
^ "Bangladesh's ruling Awami League wins boycotted poll". BBC News. 6 January 2014.
^ "Bangladesh Election Commission".
^ "Bangladesh Election Commission".
^ "5 killed in series of 'gunfights'". Prothomalo. 2018-04-19. Retrieved 2024-08-20.
^ Report, Star Online (2015-11-05). "3 killed in separate 'gunfights'". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2024-08-20.
^ "Regional Information Base on Terrorism :: Terrorism news, Chronology, Organization Profiles". 2012-02-22. Archived from the original on 2012-02-22. Retrieved 2024-08-20.
^ "Purba Banglar Communist Party (PBCP) Terrorist Group, Bangladesh". www.satp.org. Retrieved 2024-08-20.
^ "Who are these Kuki-Chin armies in the CHT?". 2023-04-10. Archived from the original on 2023-04-10. Retrieved 2024-08-20.
^ "In Chattogram Hill Tracts, a new group of armed insurgents is making waves. Who are they?". 2024-05-02. Archived from the original on 2024-05-02. Retrieved 2024-08-20.
^ "নতুন দল বাংলাদেশের সাম্যবাদী আন্দোলনের আত্মপ্রকাশ (English: Public Appearance of New Party Communist Movement of Bangladesh)". Banglanews24.com. 3 April 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2024.

[6] The Awami League has been accused of far-right authoritarianism since 2021.^[3]^[4]^[5]

[12] The Awami League has been accused of far-right authoritarianism since 2021.^[3]^[5]

[1] "Jatiya Party to contest the national polls with grand alliance | News Flash".

[2] কমিশনে রাজনৈতিক দলসমূহের নিবন্ধন আইন, ২০২০ [Commission Political Party Registration Act 2020] (PDF). Election Commission of Bangladesh (in Bengali). 30 June 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2020.

[:0-3] Hossain, Akram; Mahmudul, Haque (19 October 2021). Survival Strategies of Jamaat as a Religion-Based Political Opponent in Bangladesh. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 105–123. doi:10.1007/978-981-16-4314-9_7. ISBN 978-981-16-4314-9. S2CID 239951371.

[:1-4] Khan, Q. M. Jalal (25 June 2021). President Ziaur Rahman: Legendary Leader of Bangladesh. Writers Republic LLC. ISBN 9781637285749.

[:2-5] Ruud, Arild; Hasan, Mubashar (18 October 2021). Masks of Authoritarianism Hegemony, Power and Public Life in Bangladesh. Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore. p. 112. ISBN 9789811643149.

[7] "Leftist parties form new Left Democratic Alliance as general election nears". bdnews24.com. 19 July 2018. Archived from the original on 18 July 2018. Retrieved 20 October 2024.

[8] "Bangladesh Election Results". Bangladesh Election Commission. 10 April 2008.

[9] "Bangladesh's ruling Awami League wins boycotted poll". BBC News. 6 January 2014.

[10] "Bangladesh Election Commission".

[11] "Bangladesh Election Commission".

[13] "5 killed in series of 'gunfights'". Prothomalo. 2018-04-19. Retrieved 2024-08-20.

[14] Report, Star Online (2015-11-05). "3 killed in separate 'gunfights'". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2024-08-20.

[15] "Regional Information Base on Terrorism :: Terrorism news, Chronology, Organization Profiles". 2012-02-22. Archived from the original on 2012-02-22. Retrieved 2024-08-20.

[16] "Purba Banglar Communist Party (PBCP) Terrorist Group, Bangladesh". www.satp.org. Retrieved 2024-08-20.

[17] "Who are these Kuki-Chin armies in the CHT?". 2023-04-10. Archived from the original on 2023-04-10. Retrieved 2024-08-20.

[18] "In Chattogram Hill Tracts, a new group of armed insurgents is making waves. Who are they?". 2024-05-02. Archived from the original on 2024-05-02. Retrieved 2024-08-20.

[19] "নতুন দল বাংলাদেশের সাম্যবাদী আন্দোলনের আত্মপ্রকাশ (English: Public Appearance of New Party Communist Movement of Bangladesh)". Banglanews24.com. 3 April 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2024.

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