Hasina gets thumping majority

Dhaka: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's alliance has won the parliamentary vote with a thumping majority, officials said Monday, even as the main opposition rejected the elections which claimed 18 lives and left over 200 injured, making it one of the deadliest polls in the country.

The ruling Awami League-led grand alliance has won 288 seats in the 300-member Parliament, Election Commission (EC) secretary Helaluddin Ahmed said.

The opposition Jatiya Oikya Front - National Unity Front (NUF) - has secured seven seats, he said, adding that others have won three seats.

Voting was postponed in one constituency and result not declared in another due to the death of a candidate, Ahmed said.

Rejecting the results, the opposition NUF urged the EC to immediately scrap the "farcical election" and hold a fresh one under a non-partisan interim government.

NUF chief and veteran lawyer Kamal Hossain called the polls a "farce", citing widespread polling frauds, bdnews24.com reported.

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, who steered the party in the absence of imprisoned former prime minister Khaleda Zia, described the polls as a "cruel farce".

With the overwhelming majority in the 11th general elections, Hasina is set to take the office of the prime minister for the third consecutive time and fourth time overall.

The ruling alliance has bettered its previous best performance of 2008 when it won 263 parliamentary seats.

EC secretary Ahmed told reporters: "This is a massive event in the history of Bangladesh as the voting to the 11th parliamentary election took place in a very free, fair and peaceful environment under a political government.

"My congratulations to the Awami League".

Prime Minister Narendra Modi telephoned his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina on Monday and conveyed his heartiest congratulations on her party's decisive victory in the parliamentary elections.