Jamaat narrowly lost in 22 seats, not in 53 seats as falsely claimed
Claims that candidates from the Jamaat-e-Islami–led alliance narrowly lost 53 parliamentary seats in the February 12 national election are misleading, results data shows.
Several media outlets in Bangladesh reported that Jamaat alliance candidates were defeated in several dozen seats by margins of fewer than 10,000 votes, citing comments by Dr Zubair Ahmed, a member of the Islamist party’s election management committee.
A Dismislab analysis of the election results shows that margins below 10,000 votes occurred in 51 constituencies. Among them, the Jamaat-led alliance lost 22 seats, while the BNP-led coalition lost 26, and independent candidates lost three seats.
The daily Amar Desh reported on February 14 that the Jamaat-led alliance lost by narrow margins in 53 constituencies. The party also alleged that the election results were rigged.
Ahmed told the vernacular daily that the party could have won about 120 seats and said Jamaat will file a complaint with the Election Commission.
Online news portal Barta Bazar also echoed the claim published by Amar Desh, citing Jamaat’s Dr Ahmed.
According to the results data published by Prothom Alo, the vote margin was under 10,000 in 51 constituencies, ranging from 385 to 9,938. BNP-led alliance candidates lost in 26 seats, while Jamaat coalition candidates lost in 22.
Jamaat alliance lost by just 929 votes in Cox’s Bazar-4, where BNP’s Shahjahan Chowdhury received 122,909 votes, and Jamaat’s Nur Ahmed Anwari got 121,980.
Jamaat’s largest defeat among these 22 seats was in Cumilla-5, where it lost by 9,938 votes. In this constituency, BNP’s Md Jashim Uddin got 134,485, Jamaat’s Mobarak Hossain 124,547.
BNP’s narrowest loss was by 385 votes in Madaripur-1.
Among these 51 constituencies, Jamaat and its allies won 24 seats, while BNP and its coalition partners won 23, independent candidates won three, and Islami Andolan Bangladesh won one.
Previously, social media posts falsely claimed that the Jamaat lost 53 seats by fewer than 5,000 votes. Dismislab’s fact-check showed only 22 seats met that margin, with Jamaat candidates losing nine.
Disclaimer: The original version of this fact-check report was published in Bengali on Dismislab’s Bengali website on February 14, 2026. The English translation was completed later.
