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 dominates 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.

However, though the AL and BNP dominated Bangladesh politics for a long time, currently these two are heading coalitions of like-minded parties with the AL leading the left-of-centre parties and the BNP is rallying the right-of-centre parties.^[1]

A party is recognised as a registered party only if it fulfils any two 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.

Currently in the Parliament

These are all of the political parties that holds at least a seat in the Bangladeshi Parliament

Symbol or flag	Name	Founded	Ideology	Leader	MPs	Most MPs	Political position	Affiliation	Local government
Symbol or flag	Name	Founded	Ideology	Leader	MPs	Most MPs	Political position	Affiliation	Municipalities	Cities	Villages
	Bangladesh Awami League বাংলাদেশ আওয়ামী লীগ Bangladesh People's League	1949		Sheikh Hasina	271 / 350	306 (2020); 97.7% (1973)	Centre	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	256 (68.4%; 1988)	Centre-right		1 / 330	1 / 12	16 / 4,562
	Workers Party of Bangladesh বাংলাদেশের ওয়ার্কার্স পার্টি	1980	Communism Marxism–Leninism	Rashed Khan Menon	1 / 350	6 (1.7%; 2014)	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	8 (2.67%; 1977)	Left-wing	GA	1 / 330	0 / 12	2 / 4,562
	Bangladesh Kalyan Party বাংলাদেশ কল্যাণ পার্টি Bangladesh Welfare Party	2007	Islamic democracy	Syed Muhammad Ibrahim	1 / 350	1 (0.33%; 2024)	Radical centre		0 / 330	0 / 12	0 / 4,562
	Independents স্বতন্ত্র				62 / 350	62 (20.6%; 2024)			0 / 330	1 / 12	1,562 / 4,562

Alliances

Grand Alliance

The Grand Alliance (মহাজোট) is a coalition government in Bangladesh that formed in 2008 and consisted of the

Bangladesh Awami League, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal- JASAD, Workers Party

and three other parties.

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 8 Leftist Political parties including

Basad, Revolutionary Workers Party of Bangladesh, United Communist League Of Bangladesh, Ganatantrik Biplobi Party, Bam Gonotantrik Andolon and Gonoshonghoti Andolon.^[3]

Major parties

Bangladesh Awami League

The Bangladesh Awami League (

Hindu population in Pakistani politics. Amongst the leaders of the Awami League, five have become the President of Bangladesh, four have become the Prime Minister of Bangladesh and one became the Prime Minister of Pakistan. His daughter and also the incumbent Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina

, has headed the party since 1981.

Bangladesh Nationalist Party

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (

transliterated

: Bangladesh Jatiotabadi Dôl), often abbreviated as BNP was founded on 1 September 1978 by Bangladeshi 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.^[5] 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.^[6]

Jatiya Party (Ershad)

The Jatiya Party (Ershad) (

Hussain Mohammad Ershad on 1 January 1986. The Army Chief Lieutenant General Hussain Muhammad Ershad had usurped the state power by a coup d'état on 24 March 1982, and ruled the country as chief martial law administrator till December 1983. Political parties and activity had been prohibited during the state of emergency, when Justice A. F. M. Ahsanuddin Chowdhury was appointed President of Bangladesh

.

The Jatiya Party had a rift in leadership and an internal wrangle in 2000. The three factions were headed by General Ershad, Anwar Hossain Manju and Naziur Rahman Manju. In the general elections of 2001, the Ershad group of the Jatiya Party won 14 seats, and the Anwar Hossain group won one seat.

Registered parties

These are all the parties that are currently registered under Election Commission.^[7]

		Founded	Ideology	Leader	Political position
AL	Bangladesh Awami League বাংলাদেশ আওয়ামী লীগ	1949		Sheikh Hasina	Centre
BNP	Bangladesh Nationalist Party বাংলাদেশ জাতীয়তাবাদী দল	1978	Bangladeshi nationalism	Khaleda Zia	Centre-right
JP-E	Jatiya Party (Ershad) জাতীয় পার্টি	1986	Bangladeshi nationalism Conservatism	GM Quader	Centre-right
CPB	Communist Party of Bangladesh বাংলাদেশের কমিউনিস্ট পার্টি	1948	Communism Marxism-Leninism	Shah Alam	Far-left
SPB	Socialist Party of Bangladesh বাংলাদেশের সমাজতান্ত্রিক দল	1980	Communism Marxism-Leninism	Comrade Bazlur Rashid Firoz	Left
WPB	Workers Party of Bangladesh বাংলাদেশের ওয়ার্কার্স পার্টি	1980	Communism Marxism-Leninism	Rashed Khan Menon	Far-left
JASAD	Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal জাতীয় সমাজতান্ত্রিক দল (জাসদ)	1972	Socialism	Hasanul Haque Inu	Left-wing
BDB	Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh বিকল্পধারা বাংলাদেশ	2004	Bangladeshi nationalism Conservatism	A. Q. M. Badruddoza Chowdhury	Centre
GF	Gano Forum গণফোরাম	1992	Secularism	Kamal Hossain	Centre
JP-M	Jatiya Party (Manju) জাতীয় পার্টি - জেপি	2014	Bangladeshi nationalism Conservatism	Anwar Hossain Manju	Centre-right
BTF	Bangladesh Tarikat Federation বাংলাদেশ তরিকত ফেডারেশন	2005	Sufism (Maizbhandarism ) Secularism	Syed Najibul Bashar Maizbhandari	Right-wing
LDP	Liberal Democratic Party লিবারেল ডেমোক্রেটিক পার্টি	2006	Economic Liberalisation	Oli Ahmed	Centre
BSD-ML	Bangladesh Samyabadi Dal বাংলাদেশের সাম্যবাদী দল (এম.এল)		Communism Marxism Leninism	Dilip Barua	Far-left
KSJL	Krishak Sramik Janata League কৃষক শ্রমিক জনতা লীগ	1999	Socialism Socialist Democracy	Bangabir Kader Siddique	Centre left
GP	Ganatantri Party গণতন্ত্রী পার্টি		Secularism	Md Arash Ali
NAP	National Awami Party ন্যাশনাল আওয়ামী পার্টি	1967	Socialism	Amina Ahmed
JSD	Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal-JSD জাতীয় সমাজতান্ত্রিক দল-জেএসডি	2002	Socialism	A.S.M Abdur Rab	Left
ZP	Zaker Party জাকের পার্টি		Khaja Babaism	Mustafa Amir Faisal	Right wing
BJP	Bangladesh Jatiya Party বাংলাদেশ জাতীয় পার্টি-বিজেপি	2001	Nationalism	Barrister Andaleeve Rahman Partho	Centre
BKF	Khilafat Andolan বাংলাদেশ খেলাফত আন্দোলন	1981	Islamic democracy	Mawlana Ataullah	Right
BML	Bangladesh Muslim League বাংলাদেশ মুসলিম লীগ	1906	Muslim nationalism	Jubeda Kader Chaudhuri
NPP	National People's Party ন্যাশনাল পিপলস্‌ পার্টি (এনপিপি)			Sheikh Salauddin Salu
JUI	Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam জমিয়তে উলামায়ে ইসলাম বাংলাদেশ		Islamic democracy	Sheikh Zia Uddin
GF	Gano Front গণফ্রন্ট	1995	Secularism	Jakir Hossain	Left wing
BDNAP	Bangladesh National Awami Party-Bangladesh NAP বাংলাদেশ ন্যাশনাল আওয়ামী পার্টি-বাংলাদেশ ন্যাপ	1971	Socialism	Jobel Rahman Gani
BJP	Bangladesh Jatiya Party বাংলাদেশ জাতীয় পার্টি			M. A. Mukit
IFB	Islamic Front Bangladesh ইসলামিক ফ্রন্ট বাংলাদেশ		Mujaddedism	Bahadur Shah Mujaddedi
BKP	Bangladesh Kallyan Party বাংলাদেশ কল্যাণ পার্টি		Islamic democracy Bangladeshi nationalism Welfarism	Sayad Muhammad Ibrahim
IOJ	Islami Oikya Jote ইসলামী ঐক্যজোট		Islamic democracy	Abul Hasnat Amini
BKM	Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish বাংলাদেশ খেলাফত মজলিস	1989	Islamic democracy	Habibur Rahman
IAB	Islami Andolan Bangladesh ইসলামী আন্দোলন বাংলাদেশ		Islamic Khelafah/democracy	Mawlana Sayad Md.Rezaul Karim (Chormonai Pir)	Islami Shariah
BIF	Bangladesh Islami Front বাংলাদেশ ইসলামী ফ্রন্ট	1990	Sunni Sufism	M.A. Matin
BBWP	Bangladesher Biplobi Workers Party বাংলাদেশের বিপ্লবী ওয়ার্কার্স পার্টি	2004	Communism Marxism-Leninism	Saiful Haq
KM	Khelafat Majlish খেলাফত মজলিস	1989	Islamic democracy	Mawlana Mohammad Ishaq
BML	Bangladesh Muslim League-BML বাংলাদেশ মুসলিম লীগ-বিএমএল		Muslim nationalism	A.H.M. Kamruzzaman
BSM	Bangladesh Sanskritik Muktijot বাংলাদেশ সাংস্কৃতিক মুক্তিজোট (মুক্তিজোট)		Secularism	Abdur Razzak Mullah
BNF	Bangladesh Nationalist Front বাংলাদেশ ন্যাশনালিস্ট ফ্রন্ট-বিএনএফ	2012	Secularism	M.A. Abul Kalam Azad
NDM	Jatiotabadi Ganatantric Andolon জাতীয়তাবাদী গণতান্ত্রিক আন্দোলন-এনডিএম	2017	Democracy Bangladeshi nationalism	Bobby Hajjaj
BC	Bangladesh Congress বাংলাদেশ কংগ্রেস	2013	Secularism	Kazi Rezaul Hossen
Grassroots BNP	Grassroots Bangladesh Nationalist Party তৃণমূল বিএনপি	2015	Secularism	Nazmul Huda
Insaniyat	Humanity Revolution Bangladesh ইনসানিয়াত বিপ্লব, বাংলাদেশ^[8] ^[9]	2010	Humanitarian	Allama Imam Hayat
Bangladesh JASAD	Bangladesh National Socialist Party- Bangladesh JASAD বাংলাদেশ জাতীয় সমাজতান্ত্রীক দল- বাংলাদেশ জাসদ		Socialism Scientific socialism	Sarif Nurul Ambia	Left to Far-left

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 )

Unregistered parties

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami
Communist Movement of Bangladesh (CMB)^[10]
Bangladesh Justice Party (BAJAPA)
Ganosamhati Andolan
Revolutionary Communist League of Bangladesh - RCLB (Former United Communist League of Bangladesh.)
Maoist Bolshevik Reorganisation Movement of the Purba Banglar Sarbahara Party
Purba Banglar Sarbahara Party
Purbo Banglar Communist Party
Jatiya Ganotantrik Party
Kuki-Chin National Front

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.
^ "Leftist parties form new Left Democratic Alliance as general election nears". bdnews24.com. 19 July 2018.
^ Barry, Ellen (6 January 2014). "Bangladesh's Governing Party Wins Vote Amid Unrest". The New York Times.
^ "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".
^ "Insaniyat Biplab Bangladesh now EC-registered party". The Daily Star. 9 May 2023.
^ "New political party Humanity Revolution, Bangladesh registered by EC". Dhaka Tribune. 26 June 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
^ "নতুন দল বাংলাদেশের সাম্যবাদী আন্দোলনের আত্মপ্রকাশ (English: Public Appearance of New Party Communist Movement of Bangladesh)". Bangla News 24. 3 April 2021.

[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.

[3] "Leftist parties form new Left Democratic Alliance as general election nears". bdnews24.com. 19 July 2018.

[Barry-4] Barry, Ellen (6 January 2014). "Bangladesh's Governing Party Wins Vote Amid Unrest". The New York Times.

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

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

[7] "Bangladesh Election Commission".

[8] "Insaniyat Biplab Bangladesh now EC-registered party". The Daily Star. 9 May 2023.

[new-political-party-9] "New political party Humanity Revolution, Bangladesh registered by EC". Dhaka Tribune. 26 June 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.

[10] "নতুন দল বাংলাদেশের সাম্যবাদী আন্দোলনের আত্মপ্রকাশ (English: Public Appearance of New Party Communist Movement of Bangladesh)". Bangla News 24. 3 April 2021.

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