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Published : 16 Feb 2026, 05:51 PM
BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman, who won from two constituencies in the election, has decided to relinquish the Bogura-6 seat and take oath as a lawmaker from Dhaka-17.
A day before swearing in, on Monday, he informed Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin of his decision in writing.
EC Secretary Akhtar Ahmed said, “BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman has given up the Bogura-6 seat. We have received the letter.”
The Election Commission (EC) will now formally declare the seat vacant and issue a gazette notification.
A schedule for a by-election in the constituency will then be announced.
Following polling on Thursday, gazette notifications for winners in 297 constituencies were issued on Friday.
The oath-taking ceremony for newly elected lawmakers is scheduled for Tuesday at 10am at the South Plaza of the parliament complex.
The BNP won 209 seats and is set to form the next government.
Tarique ran and won from the two constituencies.
Under the Representation of the People Order (RPO), an individual may contest in elections from a maximum of three seats.
The Constitution, however, requires a member of parliament to represent only one constituency.
As a result, despite winning two seats, the BNP chief was required to notify the EC -- before taking oath -- which seat he would relinquish.
Failure to do so within 30 days of the election would have led to all won seats being declared vacant.
The 1972 RPO did not specify a limit on the number of constituencies one could run from.
A cap was later introduced, allowing a maximum of five seats in 1986.
Amendments in 2008–2009 reduced the limit to three.
As party chiefs, former BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia and former Jatiya Party chief Hussain Muhammad Ershad have records of winning five seats each, while Awami League President Sheikh Hasina had won three.
In the 2014 and 2018 parliamentary elections, Hasina won two seats each time, retaining Gopalganj-3 and giving up Rangpur-6 before taking oath.
In both cases, by-elections were later won by Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury.
In this election, Khaleda stood from three seats, but all nominations were cancelled following her death.
Sherpur-3 And By-poll Decisions ‘Soon’
Voting in Sherpur-3 was earlier postponed following the death of a candidate, and the EC will announce a fresh schedule.
A separate schedule will also be required for the Bogura-6 by-election.
Election Commissioner Anwarul Islam Sarker said decisions on both polls would be taken “soon”.
