EC unveils new list of constituencies

The Election Commission (EC) yesterday unveiled the new district-wise list of constituencies with 18 districts seeing either an increase or a decrease in the number of seats representing them in parliament.
According to the list, Dhaka has now 20 electoral areas, up from 13. The new seven seats would be earmarked for the metropolitan areas considering the high density of population.
The number of seats in Dhaka division, however, has risen by only four to 94 from 90 as four districts--Faridpur, Kishoreganj, Manikganj and Munshiganj--each lost a constituency.
Chittagong, Barisal and Khulna divisions--all have seen a decrease in the number of their constituencies. Chittagong has been allocated 58 seats against its previous 59, Barisal 21 against 23 and Khulna has got 34 against its previous 37 seats.
The number of parliamentary slots in Sylhet (19 seats) and Rajshahi divisions (72 seats) remain unchanged. Sirajganj under Rajshahi division lost a seat to Rajshahi City Corporation area.
Two constituencies--one lying between Mymensingh and Netrakona and the other between Pirojpur and Barisal--have been deleted from the parliamentary map.
The EC has reallocated seats for the districts in line with the criteria set out in the delimitation ordinance. Besides making sure the administrative units remain intact, it considered density of population and administrative convenience in the reallocation.
The commission will now mark out boundaries of the parliamentary constituencies within the districts. It aims to complete the task by June.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda published the list at a press briefing at the EC Secretariat conference room.
He said the commission is doing the delimitation in accordance with the law.
"At this stage, there is no need for us to discuss the issue with the political parties since the law tells us everything we need to do in this regard," Huda said adding that the commission might talk to political parties once there is a draft on redrawn constituencies within the districts.
When his attention was drawn to the political parties' fear that the task might hamper the electoral roadmap, he said it's nothing to worry about. "We will still be able to hold a free and fair election," he observed.
In line with the EC's decision, each of the three hill districts--Khagrachhari, Bandarban and Rangamati--was allocated one seat irrespective of their population.
The number of seats fell to six from seven in both Sirajganj and Kishoreganj districts, five from six in Chandpur, 11 from 12 in Comilla, two from three in Barguna, four from five in either of Satkhira and Faridpur, and three from four in Manikganj and Munshiganj each.
On the other hand, Chittagong was allocated 16 seats against its previous 15, Rajshahi six against five, and Gazipur got five while previously it had four seats.
Barisal district has got six seats while it previously had six and a half, Pirojpur three against its previous three and a half seats, Mymensingh 11 against 11.5 and Netrakona has got three instead of its previous three and a half constituencies.
Parts of Barisal, Pirojpur, Mymensingh and Netrakona that used to make up inter-district constituencies have been deleted for their boundaries to be redrawn afresh.
Dhaka district actually got 21 seats, but the EC taken one seat from it and allocated the seat for Meherpur district, a small district that did not have two seats. But the EC's decision is to allocate at least two seats to each small district.
The CEC said according to the voter list prepared in 2001, each of 17 constituencies had voters below two lakh, six constituencies each had over six lakh, seven constituencies each had between five and six lakh while the number of voters in each of 19 constituencies ranged between four and five lakh. The rest of the constituencies however are medium-sized in terms of the number of voters.