Hasina's alliance wins 258 seats in B'desh

(December 30, Dhaka, Sri Lanka Guardian) Former premier Sheikh Hasina's Awami League-led grand alliance on Tuesday won a stunning landslide victory in the ninth general elections held under a neutral caretaker government after nearly two years of emergency rule.

The Election Commission said the grand alliance bagged 258 seats in the 300-seat parliament for which elections were held on December 29.

Hasina defeated her archrival and former premier Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led four-party grouping which mustered only 38 seats.

Results of the four other seats were yet to reach the commission from the returning officers at the field level. Five seats went to other small parties and independent candidates. - Sri Lanka Guardian