The Election Commission is expected to finalise the draft delimitation of parliamentary constituencies next week with the review of numerous applications from 76 constituencies now in its final stage.
As of Saturday noon, the EC received more than 700 applications for the delimitation of parliamentary constituencies ahead of the 13th national parliament elections and the number of applications is increasing every day.聽
EC officials said that the highest number of applications came from constituencies, including Dhaka-1 (Dohar-Nawabganj), Dhaka-2 (Keraniganj, Lalbagh), Cumilla-10 (Sadar Dakshin-Lalmai-Nangalkot), Barguna-1 (Sadar, Amtoli, Taltoli), Barguna-2 (Bamna-Patharghata, Betagi), and Pirojpur-2 (Kaukhali-Bhandaria-Nesarabad).
Most of the applications wanted reinstatement of the seats that were cut between 2001 and 2008, they said.
For example, residents of Munshiganj have appealed to the EC to restore the district鈥檚 four historic parliamentary constituencies ahead of the 2026 national elections.
Their application notes that between 1973 and 2001, the district was represented by four distinct seats鈥擲rinagar鈥揝irajdikhan, Louhajang鈥揝irajdikhan, Tongibari鈥揗unshiganj Sadar, and Gazaria鈥揗unshiganj Sadar.
They argue that the reduction to three seats in 2007 was unjust, hindering local development and political representation.
The letter also alleged that the Awami League government later enforced the boundary changes for political gain, disregarding the people鈥檚 will.
Election Commissioner Md Anwarul Islam Sarker told 抖阴精品 on Sunday that the large number of current applications appeared to reflect dissatisfaction with the major changes introduced during the 2008 delimitation.
At that time, around seven parliamentary seats were altered, with districts, including Cumilla, Munshiganj, Manikganj, Chandpur, Satkhira, Sirajganj and Barguna, losing seats, which were mainly reallocated to areas, including Dhaka, Chittagong, and Rajshahi due to rapid population growth, he said.
He said that most applications were now aimed at reversing those changes by restoring the seats cut previously or bringing back unions to their original constituencies.
Some also sought minor adjustments, such as boundary extensions or reductions for administrative convenience, the election commissioner said.
Only a few applications, he noted, had called for the existing boundaries to remain unchanged.
Anwarul Islam said that the delimitation process was expected to take time due to its complexity.
He said that a meeting to address the issue might be held within the next 10鈥�15 days.
The Election Commissioner said that a commission meeting this week seemed unlikely, but efforts were on to convene one as soon as possible.
On Wednesday, citizens from parliamentary constituencies in Cumilla and Munshiganj met with Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin, demanding the restoration of the pre-2008 electoral boundaries.
Ahead of the meeting, they formed a human chain in front of the Election Commission building to press their demands.
Afterwards, former BNP lawmaker Monirul Haque Chowdhury said that their unanimous demand was to reinstate the electoral seats as they were between 1986 and 2001.
He said that they had formally applied to the commission to publish a draft list reflecting the 2001 boundaries.
EC secretary Akhtar Ahmed said that around 76 constituencies had submitted applications for delimitation, which were currently being reviewed by a committee led by election commissioner Anwarul Islam.
He said that the review process took into account various factors, including population, geographical location and administrative boundaries.
The EC could not provide any specific timeline for resolving the issue, but efforts remained underway to complete the process soon, Akhtar said.
Election commissioner Anwarul Islam said that the delimitation process was multi-staged and time-consuming.
He said that they would start with a review of the applications, followed by the preparation of a draft gazette.
After its publication, objections would be invited from the public.
Anwarul Islam said that hearings would be conducted to address those objections and the final gazette would be issued only after the hearings were completed.
