Bangladesh's Election Commission (EC) has locked the national identity cards (NIDs) of deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and several family members, effectively preventing them from casting votes in the general elections slated for February 2026. EC Secretary Akhtar Ahmed confirmed the measure during a press briefing at Nirbachon Bhavan on Wednesday, stating that individuals with locked NIDs are ineligible to vote from abroad, a new provision aimed at facilitating expatriate participation through online registration and postal ballots.

Ahmed explicitly noted that Hasina's NID is among those restricted, though he refrained from naming others. Reports from the UNB news agency and Dhaka Tribune, citing anonymous EC officials, indicate the action extends to Hasina's sister Sheikh Rehana, son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, daughter Saima Wazed Putul, and relatives including Rehana's children Tulip Rizwana Siddiq, Azmina Siddiq, and nephew Radwan Mujib Siddiq Bobby, as well as Hasina's former security adviser Tarique Ahmed Siddique, his wife Shahin Siddique, and their daughter Bushra Siddique. The initial blocking of these 10 NIDs occurred in April 2025 under instructions from the EC's NID division director general, ASM Humayun Kabir, amid ongoing legal scrutiny.

The decision aligns with the interim government's push to hold accountable figures from Hasina's ousted Awami League administration, toppled on August 5, 2024, following a deadly student-led uprising that claimed over 300 lives and forced her flight to India. Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, as Chief Adviser, has suspended Awami League operations and initiated trials at the International Crimes Tribunal, where Hasina faces in absentia proceedings for alleged crimes against humanity during the July 2024 protests, with prosecutors seeking the death penalty. Ahmed clarified that those who fled to evade justice could still vote if they return to Bangladesh and present active NIDs at polling stations, though Hasina's exile status complicates this.

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This move has drawn criticism from Awami League supporters, who view it as political retribution, while interim authorities defend it as a safeguard for electoral integrity amid the party's diminished presence—most senior leaders are in hiding or abroad after mobs vandalised properties, including the historic 32 Dhanmondi residence of Bangladesh's founding father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The February elections mark Bangladesh's first under the Yunus-led transition, with reforms including digital voter verification to boost transparency in a nation of 170 million, where past polls under Hasina were marred by allegations of rigging. As the EC prepares for an estimated 120 million eligible voters, the barring of high-profile figures underscores the deepening rift between the old guard and the reformist interim setup.

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