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       Bangladesh Leader Headed to 4th Straight Term in Vote Marred by Crackdown

       With the opposition in jail or off the ballots in a boycott, the prime minister for the past 15 years was expected to maintain her grip on power in what appeared to be a low-turnout vote.

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       A polling station on Sunday in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Credit...Indranil Mukherjee/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

       By Mujib Mashal and Saif Hasnat

       Mujib Mashal reported from New Delhi, and Saif Hasnat from Dhaka, Bangladesh.

       Published Jan. 7, 2024Updated Jan. 8, 2024, 6:47 a.m. ET

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       Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh was headed toward a fourth consecutive term in office as voting ended on Sunday in a low-turnout election that had been marred by a widespread crackdown on the opposition.

       Security remained tight across the country of 170 million people as the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the main opposition, which has boycotted the election as unfair, pushed for a nationwide strike. The situation had remained tense in the days leading up to the vote, with episodes of violence — including arson on a train in Dhaka that killed four people, and the torching of more than a dozen polling stations — reported from across the country.

       Ms. Hasina, 76, who cast her vote in Dhaka, the capital, soon after polls opened at 8 a.m. local time, urged people to come out in large numbers. Early results showed her party with a clear majority.

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       Mujib Mashal is the South Asia bureau chief for The Times, helping to lead coverage of India and the diverse region around it, including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan. More about Mujib Mashal

       A version of this article appears in print on Jan. 8, 2024, Section A , Page 6 of the New York edition with the headline: Bangladesh Votes Amid Widespread Crackdown on Opposition . Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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