Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League wins 107 seats due to the minority Hindus of Bangladesh
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Dhaka (Bangladesh) – Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League has won 204 seats in the General elections. While some independent candidates of the Awami League won 50 seats. Sheikh Hasina will become the Prime Minister of Bangladesh for the fifth time as her party won 254 out of 299 seats. Interestingly, for the first time in the history of Bangladesh, Hindu voters influenced the Awami League’s victory on 107 seats.
Former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s party ‘Bangladesh Nationalist Party’, as well as Jamaat-e-Islami, stayed away from the election. Due to this, voter turnout was only 40%. Hence, 10% Hindu vote bank turned towards the Awami League. This allowed Hasina’s party to gain victory on 107 seats. In many of these seats, the Hindu vote percentage was 20% to 40%. Rana Dasgupta, one of the founders of the ‘Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council’ said that the Hindu population is in danger in these constituencies. Hence the Hindus voted for Hasina.
The Buddhist Federation’s General Secretary Bhikkhu Sunandapriya said that for the first time since 1975, no radical group has participated in the election process this year. We want to use this opportunity to make a communalism-free Bangladesh. This year we did not choose a particular party, but we have chosen those candidates who would work wholeheartedly for the creation of a communalism-free Bangladesh.
| Editorial Perspective
Hindus have voted for the Awami League as it is the lesser of the two evils. We must not forget that Awami’s leaders had attacked Hindus just a few days before the elections ! Hence, the Indian Government should pressurise the Sheikh Hasina Government to protect Hindus in future ! |