The Election Commission has issued a notification redefining the boundaries of ten constituencies ahead of the 12th parliamentary election.
The notification, signed by Election Commission Secretary Md Jahangir Alam on Thursday, was published in gazette form on the Election Commission website on Saturday.
While the draft of the parliamentary seat delimitations saw no changes, the final decision diverged, marking a significant shift in the boundaries.
The boundaries of the ten constituencies that saw changes are Pirojpur-1 and Pirojpur-2, Comilla-1 and Comilla-2, Faridpur-2 and Faridpur-4, Noakhali-1 and Noakhali-2 and Gazipur-2 and Gazipur-5.
Significant changes were made in four of these constituencies.
Pirojpur
According to the boundaries determined for the 11th parliamentary election, the Pirojpur-1 constituency comprised Pirojpur Sadar, Nazirpur and Nesarabad upazilas.
Taking the 12th parliamentary election into consideration, the new boundary of this constituency is now determined as Pirojpur Sadar, Nazirpur and Indurkani upazilas.
At the same time, the boundary of Pirojpur-2, previously consisting of Kawkhali, Bhandaria and Indurkani upazilas, has been reconstituted to include Kawkhali, Bhandaria and Nesarabad upazilas.
As a result, Indurkani upazila moved from Pirojpur-2 to Pirojpur-1 while Nesarabad upazila made the reverse change.
Comilla
The boundary of Comilla-1 – previously Daudkandi and Meghna upazilas – was reconstituted to include Daudkandi and Titas upazilas.
Comilla-2, which used to include Homna and Titas upazilas, is now comprised of Homna and Meghna upazilas.
Faridpur
Krishnapur union was omitted from Faridpur-2 (previously made up of Nagarkanda and Saltha upazilas and Krishnapur union of Sadarpur upazila) and was added to Faridpur-4.
According to the boundaries of the 11th parliamentary election, Faridpur-4 comprised Bhanga and Charbhadrasan, excluding Krishnapur union.
Under the new boundary, this constituency now comprises Bhanga, Charbhadrasan, and Sadarpur upazilas.
Noakhali
One union was transferred between Noakhali-1 and Noakhali-2 constituencies. Bajra union was removed from Noakhali-1 and added to Noakhali-2.
Previously, Noakhali-1 consisted of Sonaimuri and Chatkhil upazila excluding Barogaon, Nateshwar and Ambarnagor unions. Now it includes Sonaimuri and Chatkhil upazilas, excluding Barogaon, Neteshwar, Ambarnagor and Bajra unions.
Noakhali-2, previously made up of Senbag upazila and Barogaon, Nateshwar and Ambarnagor unions of Sonaimuri upazila, was reconstituted to include Senbag upazila and Barogaon, Nateshwar, Ambarnagor and Bajra unions of Sonaimuri upazila.
Other constituencies
In the aftermath of the 11th national parliamentary election, eight additional seats were altered due to the inclusion of newly established administrative areas.
However, no changes were made regarding the seat boundaries of these eight.
The newly formed Madaripur-3 constituency, which incorporates Kalkini upazila, also includes Dasar upazila, redefining the constituency boundaries.
The Mymensingh-4 constituency saw the addition of the Mymensingh City Corporation to the existing Mymensingh Sadar seat.
The Sunamganj-1 constituency, incorporating Dharmapasha, Tahirpur, and Jamalganj upazilas, now includes Madhyanagar upazila as well.
The Sunamganj-3 constituency, created with Jagannathpur and Dakshin Surma upazilas, saw a change in the name of Dakshin Surma to Shantiganj upazila, altering this portion of the constituency boundary.
Changes were made in the Sylhet-1 constituency, formed with the Sylhet City Corporation and Sylhet Sadar upazila, due to incorporating a union of Sadar upazila and portions of three union parishads into the city corporation.
Sylhet-1 includes wards 1 to 27 and 31 to 39 of the city corporation and Sylhet Sadar upazila.
This brought changes to the Sylhet-2 constituency, encompassing wards 28 to 30 and 40 to 42 of the city corporation, and Dakshinsurma, Fenchuganj and Balaganj upazilas.
A new upazila named Eidgaon was included in Cox's Bazar-3 seat, formed with Cox's Bazar Sadar and Ramu upazilas, due to the division of Sadar upazila.
The Election Commission published the draft of the boundaries of 300 constituencies in February ahead of the 12th parliamentary elections.
However, the existing boundaries of the seats were retained in the draft. Only six parliamentary seats were proposed to be altered due to the formation of new administrative areas (upazilas, wards).
However, it did not change the current boundaries of any constituencies. The draft just involved the addition of the names of the new administrative areas.
Local people and representatives were given time to express their claims and objections to the draft. After hearings on those claims and objections, the new boundaries were determined and a proclamation was issued.