Zürcher Nachrichten - Bangladesh nationalists claim big election win, Islamists cry foul

But final official results are yet to come, and its main rival Jamaat-e-Islami, the largest Islamist party leading a wider coalition, said it had "serious questions about the integrity of the results process".

The US embassy swiftly congratulated Rahman and the BNP for a "historic victory", while neighbouring India praised his "decisive win" despite rocky recent relations with Bangladesh. Pakistan's prime minister hailed the Bangladeshi people's "successful conduct of elections".

At 9:30 am (0330 GMT), broadcasters projected that the BNP had pushed well past the 150-seat threshold to secure a clear majority in parliament, predicting they would win more than two-thirds of seats.

- 'Mounting challenges' -

The Jamuna television channel projected that the BNP had secured 212 seats. It said Jamaat had won 74, a huge leap from its past results but far short of the outright win it had campaigned for. Somoy TV broadcast similar figures.

Rahman had told AFP two days before polling he was "confident" that his party -- crushed during the 15-year autocratic rule of ousted premier Sheikh Hasina -- would regain power in the South Asian nation of 170 million people.

Jamaat chief Shafiqur Rahman, 67, had mounted a disciplined grassroots campaign on a platform of justice and ending corruption.

His party said it was "not satisfied with the process surrounding the election results", claiming it had logged "repeated inconsistencies and fabrications in unofficial result announcements". It did not immediately give specific evidence.

The Election Commission has suggested it will not release final results until later on Friday, for a total of the 299 constituencies of 300 in which voting took place.

A further 50 seats in parliament reserved for women will be named from party lists.

Senior BNP leader Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, in a party statement, claimed a resounding win without giving figures, calling for followers to give thanks in prayer on Friday rather than celebrate on the streets.

"There will be no victory rally despite the BNP's sweeping victory," the statement said. "We will hold special prayers at mosques after Jumma (Friday) prayers across the country."

- Peaceful polls -

Party workers spent the whole night in front of the BNP offices.

"We will join the nation-building effort led by Tarique Rahman," Md Fazlur Rahman, 45, told AFP.

"Over the last 17 years, we have suffered a lot."

Heavy deployments of security forces are posted countrywide, and UN experts warned ahead of the voting of "growing intolerance, threats and attacks", and a "tsunami of disinformation".

Political clashes killed five people and injured more than 600 during campaigning, police records show.

But polling day was largely peaceful, according to the Election Commission, which reported only "a few minor disruptions".

- 'Ended the nightmare' -

Interim leader Muhammad Yunus, who will step down once the new government takes power, has urged all sides to stay calm.

"We may have differences of opinion, but we must remain united in the greater national interest," he said.

The 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner has led Bangladesh since Hasina's rule ended with her ouster in August 2024.

His administration barred her Awami League party from contesting the polls.

Yunus, after casting his vote, said the country had "ended the nightmare and begun a new dream".

Hasina, 78, sentenced to death in absentia for crimes against humanity, issued a statement from in hiding in India, where she decried an "illegal and unconstitutional election".

Yunus has championed a sweeping democratic reform charter to overhaul what he called a "completely broken" system of government and to prevent a return to one-party rule.

Voters also took part in a referendum on the proposals for prime ministerial term limits, a new upper house of parliament, stronger presidential powers and greater judicial independence.

Television projections suggested the electorate had backed the charter.

burs-pjm/mjw

L.Zimmermann--NZN