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DHAKA, Jan 21, 2026 (BSS) - The Election Commission (EC) has completed the allocation of symbols for 1,973 candidates contesting 298 constituencies across the country for the upcoming 13th national parliamentary election.

With the symbol allocation completed, candidates will be able to start their campaigns from tomorrow, EC officials said.

Returning officers across the 298 constituencies conducted the symbol allocation from Wednesday morning until 5:00 pm, assigning symbols to all 1,973 candidates.

"Returning officers have completed the symbol allocation by 5:00 pm today. All 1,973 candidates nationwide have received their symbols," said Md Ruhul Amin Mallick, Director (Public Relations) and information officer of the EC Secretariat.

He said returning officers will now submit details of how many candidates are contesting in each constituency to the Election Commission. 

They will also submit Form-5 containing the candidates' information, which will guide the printing of ballot papers. Ballot paper printing is expected to begin tomorrow. "Following symbol allocation, candidates can begin their election campaigns from tomorrow," he added.

According to the EC's "Code of Conduct for Political Parties and Candidates 2025," no registered political party, nominated candidate, independent candidate, or any representative campaigning on their behalf can start campaigning earlier than three weeks before the polling day. Campaigning must also end 48 hours prior to the start of voting.

EC officials said a total of 1,973 candidates, both party-affiliated and independent, will contest the 13th parliamentary election in 298 constituencies, excluding Pabna-1 and Pabna-2. A total of 2,580 nomination papers were submitted for the 300 seats. Of these, 1,855 nominations were valid while 725 were rejected.

Following appeals, 437 candidates regained their eligibility. By the deadline on Tuesday at 5:00 pm, 305 candidates nationwide withdrew their nominations.

According to the schedule, election campaigns will run from January 22 until 48 hours before voting begins. Voting for the 13th national parliament and the referendum will take place on February 12 from 7:30 am to 4:30 pm, using ballot papers and transparent ballot boxes.

The schedule for the election was announced on December 11 by Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin in a public address. The deadline for filing nominations was December 29, 2025.