Bikalpadhara against re-demarcation of constituencies

Bikalpadhara Bangladesh on Tuesday urged the Election Commission (EC) not to re-demarcate the parliamentary constituencies ahead of the next general election saying that it will invite controversies.

The party, however, proposed deployment of army for 45 days from 30 days before the election and restoration 'No Vote' provision.

A 14-member Bikalpadhara delegation, led by its chief and also former president AQM Badruddoza, placed a 13-point proposal participating in an EC dialogue held at Nirbachan Bhaban with chief election commissioner KM Nurul Huda in the chair. The dialogue began at 11am.

"Some parliamentary constituencies are re-demarcated by the Election Commission ahead of every national election, which created controversies and cast adverse impacts on public mind. So, there's no need for delimitation of constituencies (before next election)," the party said in one of their written proposals.

Another proposal says, "The army will have to be kept deployed one month before the election to maintain peace and order. The army members will be engaged to provide security to voters and candidates on the election. And the army will have to be kept in the field to maintain peace and order till 15 days after the voting day."

The Election Commission on 24 August last started dialogues with 40 registered political parties to receive their opinions over the EC's preparation for the 11th national election likely to be held in December 2018.

Bikalpadhara secretary general major (Retd) Abdul Mannan was also among the delegation members.