Gazipur to Gain One Parliamentary Seat, Bagerhat to Lose One: Election Commission

The Election Commission of Bangladesh has proposed increasing one parliamentary seat in Gazipur while reducing one in Bagerhat for the upcoming national election. This announcement was made by Election Commissioner Anwarul Islam Sarker during a press briefing on Wednesday afternoon at the Election Commission office in Agargaon, Dhaka. A draft regarding the delimitation of parliamentary constituencies has already been published.

Currently, Bagerhat has four parliamentary seats, while Gazipur has five. According to the new proposal, Bagerhat will have three seats, and Gazipur will have six. The decision was made based on the report of a specialized technical committee and approved by the Election Commission.

Election Commissioner Anwarul Islam Sarker stated that the proposal was formulated after analyzing the total voter population and demographics of the districts, as per the technical committee’s report. Additionally, minor adjustments to the boundaries of 39 to 42 constituencies across the country have been proposed, while the boundaries of over 250 constituencies from the last national election will remain unchanged. Sarker further explained that the average voter count per constituency has been set at 420,500 across the 64 districts. Based on this, increasing one seat in Gazipur and reducing one in Bagerhat will ensure equitable representation. No proposals for adding or reducing seats have been made for other districts. Regarding constituencies where boundary adjustments or minor changes are proposed, Sarker noted that the Election Commission has approved these changes. Objections or claims regarding the draft constituency boundaries can be submitted until August 10. After hearing objections, the final gazette of constituency boundaries will be published. Sarker also mentioned that while working with the 2022 Census data, the technical committee identified some inconsistencies. The Election Commission relied on its updated voter list, which was used to analyze voter distribution across districts. The committee created a grading system based on an average voter count of 420,500, with a variance of approximately 20,500, to determine which districts have higher or lower voter numbers. Districts with one to three seats were not considered for seat adjustments. **Constituencies Proposed for Boundary Re-Delimitation:** Panchagarh-1, 2; Rangpur-3; Sirajganj-1, 2; Satkhira-3, 4; Khulna-1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6; Shariatpur-2, 3; Dhaka-2, 3, 7, 10, 14, 19; Gazipur-1, 2, 3, 5, 6; Narayanganj-4, 5; Sylhet-1, 3; Brahmanbaria-2, 3; Cumilla-1, 2, 10, 11; Noakhali-1, 2, 4, 5; and Chattogram-7, 8. The Election Commission reported receiving around 1,500 applications regarding constituency boundary delimitation. Among these, the technical committee proposed minor and major adjustments for 42 constituencies.