Dhaka: Bangladesh's election commission has realigned constituencies in 18 of the 64 districts for the upcoming parliamentary polls.

Of the 300 parliamentary constituencies, about 49 existing constituencies in 18 of the 64 districts have witnessed the delimitation Dhaka district will have the highest 20 seats from the existing 13 under the arrangement in view of its growing population while the southeastern Chittagong and southwestern Barisal and Khulna divisions saw a decrease in the number of their constituencies.

The officials said the election commission yesterday reallocated seats for the districts in line with the criteria set out in the delimitation ordinance considering the density of population and administrative convenience to remove the population disparities.

Chief Election Commissioner A T M Shamsul Huda ruled out any discussions with the political parties on the issue. "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.

He, however, said the commission might talk to political parties once a draft is ready. The election commission decision came after political parties expressed fears that the task might hamper the electoral roadmap to stage the polls by end of 2008.

But Huda ruled out the fear saying "we will still be able to hold a free and fair election according to the roadmap."

Source : PTI