Student-led NCP sees internal rift ahead of Bangladesh polls

The student-led Bangladeshi party born out of the protest movement that toppled Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has ‍forged an electoral alliance with Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami ahead of February’s parliamentary election, ​stirring internal rifts.

Since last year’s uprising, the National ‌Citizen Party (NCP) has cast itself as a centrist, reformist ​alternative to nepotism and two-party dominance, but as the election nears, it is struggling to turn street power into voter support.

NCP chief Nahid Islam said on Sunday (December 28, 2025) the party had decided to enter into the alliance for greater unity, adding that the final list of candidates would be announced on Monday. Other NCP figures have ​described the alliance as a pragmatic step in a fragmented ⁠political landscape.