13th Parliament

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)

Total seats245

Elected210

Reserved35

About the party

Founded by Ziaur Rahman, the party has won five general elections and has been in government since the 2026 election. It has 245 members in the 13th Parliament.

Ziaur Rahman, then President, launched the party on 1 September 1978 by reading out its manifesto at a press conference at the Ramna Restaurant in Dhaka. A few days earlier the Jatiyatabadi Ganatantrik Dal (JAGODAL), formed in his support, had been dissolved and merged into the new party. Its first secretary general was Professor A Q M Badruddoza Chowdhury.

After Ziaur Rahman was killed in 1981, Khaleda Zia took charge of the party and led it from 1983; she was Bangladesh's first woman Prime Minister. Tarique Rahman was acting chairman from 2018 to 2025; after Khaleda Zia's death in 2025 he became chairman, and having won the Dhaka-17 seat in the 2026 election he became Prime Minister.

The party won the general elections of 1979, 1991, 1996 (February), 2001 and 2026. The government formed after the February 1996 election lasted only a short time. In the elections of 2008, 2014, 2018 and 2024 the party either lost or did not take part.

In the 13th Parliament

The party now holds 210 of the 300 constituency seats; with the reserved seats for women, it has 245 members in Parliament in all, well above the 176 needed for a majority. The Speaker, the Deputy Speaker and the Leader of the House are all from this party. All the party's members and their seats are listed below.

Sources: Bangla Wikipedia, English Wikipedia (party history); Parliament of Bangladesh (current members and offices). Last checked 11 September 2026.