Two Seats, Two Stories: What the April 9 By-Elections Are Actually About

Bangladesh holds two parliamentary elections on April 9, 2026 — a by-election in Bogura-6 and a fresh general election in Sherpur-3, both under the 13th National Parliament. Voting runs from 7:30am to 4:30pm with no break. Bogura-6 fell vacant because Prime Minister Tarique Rahman won two seats on February 12 and was legally required to relinquish one. Sherpur-3 was never held in the February 12 national election after a Jamaat-e-Islami candidate died. Both seats now pit BNP against Jamaat in a straight contest — the same matchup that defined the national election, compressed into two local contests.

Why Is There a By-Election in Bogura-6?

BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman won both Bogura-6 and Dhaka-17 in the February 12, 2026 general election. Bangladesh law does not permit a member of parliament to hold two seats simultaneously. Rahman retained Dhaka-17 — the seat from which he took his oath — and formally vacated Bogura-6. According to The Daily Star, the Election Commission declared the seat vacant and announced a new election schedule on February 24, 2026. Bogura has historically been a BNP stronghold — the district returned BNP candidates across multiple constituencies in the February 12 national election, including Bogura-2, 3, 4, 5, and 7.

Why Was Sherpur-3 Never Held on February 12?

The Election Commission suspended the Sherpur-3 election on February 4, 2026 — eight days before the national vote — following the death of Jamaat-e-Islami candidate Nuruzzaman Badal. Under the Representation of the People Order 1972, the death of a validly nominated candidate before polling day requires the election to be cancelled and rescheduled. According to TBS News, polling in 299 of the country's 300 constituencies was held on February 12; Sherpur-3 was the only constituency excluded. The April 9 election in Sherpur-3 is therefore legally classified as a general election for the seat — not a by-election — though it is being held simultaneously with the Bogura-6 by-poll.

The Sherpur district had a fraught pre-election period. Wikipedia's record of the February 12 national election notes that on January 28, a Jamaat-e-Islami leader was killed by BNP activists in Sherpur District, and that the killing of the Jamaat candidate whose death caused the suspension was itself preceded by inter-party violence. That history gives the April 9 Sherpur-3 contest a particular political weight that goes beyond its single parliamentary seat.

The Full Candidate List for Both Constituencies

ConstituencyCandidatePartySymbol Bogura-6 (By-election)Md. Rezaul Karim BadshaBNPSheaf of Paddy Bogura-6 (By-election)Md. Abidur RahmanJamaat-e-IslamiScale (Daripalla) Bogura-6 (By-election)[Candidate]Bangladesh Development PartyCauliflower Sherpur-3 (Fresh election)Md. Mahmudul Haque RubelBNPSheaf of Paddy Sherpur-3 (Fresh election)Md. Masudur RahmanJamaat-e-IslamiScale (Daripalla) Sherpur-3 (Fresh election)[Candidate]Socialist Party of Bangladesh (Marxist)Scissors

According to BSS, the Returning Officers of both constituencies confirmed the final candidate lists and election symbols on March 15, 2026. No appeals were filed against the returning officers' scrutiny decisions in either constituency, leaving all six candidates as valid contestants. The Election Commission has also sent postal ballots to 1,281 registered expatriate voters in Bogura-6 and 383 in Sherpur-3 — part of the overseas voting system introduced for the February 12 national election.

What Does the National Election Result Tell Us About April 9?

The February 12 general election gave BNP a landslide — 208 seats nationally, with Jamaat-e-Islami winning 68. BNP secured 49.97% of the national vote share against Jamaat's 31.76%, according to the Election Commission's party-wise vote share report released February 15. The overall voter turnout was 59.44%.

In Bogura district specifically, BNP swept every contested seat where results were finalised. Bogura-5 (Sherpur–Dhunot) went to BNP's Golam Mohammad Siraj with 248,841 votes, against Jamaat's candidate at 143,329. Bogura-2, 3, 4, and 7 all returned BNP winners with substantial margins. The district is one of BNP's most historically reliable strongholds in the country. For Bogura-6, the by-election is in many ways a formality — BNP won it on February 12 (with Tarique Rahman himself as the candidate), and the question is simply whether BNP can replicate that margin with a fresh local candidate in Rezaul Karim Badsha.

Sherpur-3 is more genuinely uncertain. In the neighbouring Sherpur-2 constituency (Nakla-Nalitabari), BNP's Fahim Chowdhury won with 117,441 votes against a Jamaat candidate who received 105,782 — a margin of fewer than 12,000 votes, among the tighter BNP victories in the national election. Sherpur-1 (Sadar) was won by Jamaat. This district-level pattern suggests Sherpur-3 could be a closer race than Bogura-6, though the BNP's structural advantage — 49.97% national vote share versus Jamaat's 31.76% — makes a BNP loss in either seat improbable unless there is significant local mobilisation by Jamaat's ground network.

What Are the Real Issues in Both Constituencies?

The April 9 elections arrive less than two months after the national election and in the middle of Bangladesh's most significant external economic challenge since the COVID-19 pandemic. The West Asia war that began February 28 has driven fuel and LPG prices higher and generated broad economic anxiety. Both Bogura and Sherpur are agricultural districts where fuel and fertiliser costs directly affect livelihoods.

In Bogura-6, the by-election campaign has focused on local development promises — infrastructure, agricultural support, and the expectation that a BNP MP in a BNP stronghold will have direct access to government resources and attention. The constituency's symbolic significance is also notable: it is the seat that PM Tarique Rahman himself won, which gives the BNP candidate a certain reflected prestige and raises the stakes for the BNP to hold it convincingly.

In Sherpur-3, the election carries the additional weight of the district's difficult pre-February 12 history. Jamaat's candidate for this seat — Md. Masudur Rahman — is contesting in a constituency where his party's previous candidate died before the last election. Local political observers expect higher-than-average security deployment given the violence in the district in January 2026. The Election Commission has requested the Ministry of Public Administration to declare a general holiday in both constituencies on Election Day to maximise voter access.

The Election Commission's Schedule and Process

The complete official schedule as announced by EC Senior Secretary Akhtar Ahmed on February 24, 2026 was as follows: nomination deadline March 2; scrutiny of nominations March 5; appeals March 6–10; appeal disposal March 11; withdrawal deadline March 14; symbol allocation March 15; campaigns from March 16; polling April 9, 7:30am–4:30pm. Voting will use paper ballots cast in transparent ballot boxes — the same method used in the February 12 national election. The EC's decision to hold both elections on the same day was partly driven by the Election Commissioner's stated goal of completing elections before Pohela Boishakh (Bengali New Year), after which the rainy season and storm risk increases.

What to Watch on April 9

For Bogura-6, the margin matters more than the result. If BNP wins by a large margin, it confirms that the party's dominance in the Bogura region holds even without Tarique Rahman's personal drawing power. A narrow BNP win or an unexpected Jamaat performance would signal that the alliance's grassroots capacity is stronger than the national vote share suggests.

For Sherpur-3, the result will be read as a verdict on the district's political direction after its turbulent pre-election period. A Jamaat win in Sherpur-3 — which won Sherpur-1 on February 12 — would give the party two of three Sherpur seats and signal meaningful district-level strength. A BNP win would complete its sweep of the Sherpur district.

Both results will also be watched as early indicators of how BNP manages the transition from winning a landslide election to governing under significant economic pressure. For a full picture of how the February 12 general election unfolded, see WinTK's coverage of the BNP's landslide victory and the 127 million voter turnout, and our complete election results analysis. For context on the full electoral process and how the system worked, our complete voter guide to the 13th national election covers the key institutional details.

Frequently Asked Questions

When is the Bangladesh by-election in April 2026?
Voting is on Thursday, April 9, 2026, from 7:30am to 4:30pm with no break. Two seats are up: Bogura-6 (by-election) and Sherpur-3 (fresh general election). Both fall under the 13th National Parliament.

Why is there a by-election in Bogura-6?
BNP Chairman and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman won both Bogura-6 and Dhaka-17 on February 12. Law requires vacating one seat. He retained Dhaka-17 and took his oath from there, making Bogura-6 vacant for a by-election.

Why was Sherpur-3 not held on February 12 with the rest of the country?
The Election Commission suspended the Sherpur-3 election on February 4 after Jamaat-e-Islami candidate Nuruzzaman Badal died. Under Bangladeshi electoral law, the death of a valid nominee before polling day requires cancellation and rescheduling.

Who are the main candidates in Bogura-6 and Sherpur-3?
In Bogura-6: BNP's Md. Rezaul Karim Badsha vs. Jamaat's Md. Abidur Rahman. In Sherpur-3: BNP's Md. Mahmudul Haque Rubel vs. Jamaat's Md. Masudur Rahman. A third minor party candidate contests each seat.

Who is expected to win on April 9?
BNP is heavily favoured in both seats based on its 49.97% national vote share against Jamaat's 31.76% and its clean sweep of Bogura district in February. Sherpur-3 is the less predictable of the two given Jamaat's district-level strength in Sherpur-1.