On 29 January, the Vivekananda International Foundation organized a Round Table Discussion on the “Recently held 12th Parliamentary Election in Bangladesh and Its Implications for India”. Dr Arvind Gupta, Director VIF, delivered the opening remarks, followed by brief presentations by Prof Sreeradha Datta, Amb Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, Amb Pankaj Saran and Dr Anchita Borthakur. The presentations were accompanied by discussions, with a special focus on what should be the way forward for India in Bangladesh, after the latter’s national election. Finally, Dr Arvind Gupta, Director, VIF, gave the concluding remarks.

On 7 January, Bangladesh held its 12th parliamentary elections which was boycotted by Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) led opposition, allowing Awami League (AL) to win the election with very little opposition. The incumbent Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has secured her fifth term in office, thereby becoming the world's longest-serving female head of state, with her Party winning an absolute majority in the polls. The election saw a considerably low voter turnout of around 41.8% as mentioned by the Chief Election Commissioner of Bangladesh. The AL won 223 seats out of 299 in the national election, with independent candidates winning 62 seats. Jatiya Party, which is a part of Awami League led 14 party alliance, won 11 seats; while Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, Bangladesh Workers Party, and Bangladesh Kalyan Party won one seat each.

The 2024 parliamentary election received mixed reaction from across the globe. While the US and UK shared the view that the elections “were not free or fair,” envoys from China and Russia were among the first to congratulate Sheikh Hasina for her landslide victory. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also congratulated Hasina on her historic win, and praised her for the successful conduct of the polls.

In this backdrop, the discussion highlighted the regional and global imperatives of the recently held Bangladesh’s national election. The primary focus of the discussion was to evaluate what does re-election of Sheikh Hasina mean for India and the region.

The discussion concluded that it is significant to understand the internal dynamics of Bangladesh’s politics, reasons for domestic turmoil and the daunting economic crisis faced by the country at the present juncture. Therefore, India’s approach should be to engage with the government of Bangladesh both at the bi-lateral as well as at the sub regional levels on the issues of infrastructure, connectivity, economy, energy and on the promotion of the tourism sector. It was also highlighted that understanding the shared aspirations of the youth of both the countries is significant while developing policies embedded within multiple sectors. It was further emphasized that both India and Bangladesh should pursue a people centric approach and work towards the policy of regional economic integration in the neighborhood.