Dhaka  - Bangladesh's Awami League-led alliance of former premier Sheikh Hasina Wazed is leading the country's general elections on Monday, according to preliminary results coming in from across the country.

Early results from dozens out of 299 parliamentary constituencies reaching the Election Commission shows the Awami League and its allies ahead of prime rival the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led alliance of Khaleda Zia.

A private television channel reported Hasina won by a big margin at her Gopalganj-3 constituency.

The Election Commission set up a centre at its premises to broadcast live election results through radio and television channels as soon as they reach the centre.

"We will continue airing live the results throughout the night, if needed until Tuesday morning," the commission secretary said.

A festive atmosphere marked Bangladesh's landmark general elections, as voters turned out in high numbers amid tight security to elect a new democratic government, replacing a military-backed administration that ruled the country for the last two years.

The balloting was generally peaceful, according to election officials and poll observers. Officials said Bangladeshis were generally enthusiastic to cast their vote despite reports of a few violent incidents during the polls. The government had declared the day a public holiday to facilitate voting.

But the Bangladesh Nationalist Party at a press briefing alleged that its supporters at different polling stations were intimidated. They also lodged a complaint with the Election Commission.

Chief Election Commissioner ATM Shamsul Huda said earlier that the election was generally peaceful. "There has been hardly any report of violence during the voting," he said, adding that he hoped voter turnout would be above 75 per cent.

Reports from a few districts said isolated violent incidents left at least 20 people injured.

Nazmul Ahsan Kalimullah, chief of the National Election Monitoring Council, which deployed election observers across the country, said voter turnout was very strong this time round.

"Field level observers reported on average a 70-per-cent turnout," Ahsan said. The exact figure will be available after the complete results are in.

People were seen waiting in long queues at polling stations from daybreak to cast their vote.

Bangladesh's general election was originally scheduled for January 2007, but was postponed following the declaration of a state of emergency in the wake of political violence. The country has been under the rule of a military-backed caretaker government since then.

Casting his vote at a city polling station, the head of the interim administration, Fakhruddin Ahmed said his government had been waiting for the day when the people could cast their vote without fear.

He called on the parties to accept the people's verdict and electors to choose honest and competent representatives to parliament.

Two former prime ministers - Sheikh Hasina Wazed and Khaleda Zia - the heads of rival political alliances also cast their votes and visited a number of polling centres.

Hasina alleged irregularities in many polling centres while Zia said the polling was "so far so good."

Bangladesh's army chief Moeen U Ahmed, who had reportedly played a crucial role in the January 2007 political changeover, said he hoped that the parties would respect the people's choice.

The election is taking place in 299 out of 300 parliamentary constituencies as the Election Commission earlier postponed polling in one area following the death of a candidate.

Huda said he hoped for a credible election to return the country to democracy. In a televised speech on Sunday, he assured that all necessary preparations for a free and fair election were made, inviting everyone to apply their voting rights without fear.

The government deployed as many as 650,000 police and army officers across the country to prevent violence. (dpa)