Dhaka, Dec. 18 -- In the hills of south-eastern Bangladesh, elections are never only about party symbols or campaign slogans. They are about old agreements and older grievances, about the delicate arithmetic between hill communities and Bengali settlers, and about the shifting postures of regional movements whose silence can matter as much as their participation.

As analysts weigh the coming vote in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, they are watching not only the country's major political forces but also the manoeuvres of regional parties. In election season, that equation grows more intricate, with the added variable of the "hill-Bengali" vote balance.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has already announced its candidates for all three ...