Voting Suspended in Pabna-1 and Pabna-2 Constituencies

Due to a court order related to boundary complications, the Election Commission has directed the suspension of voting in two constituencies of Pabna.

Returning Officer and District Administrator Shahed Mostafa said on Saturday that the relevant letter has been received.

He said, “A public notification regarding this will now be issued.”

In a letter signed by Mohammad Monir Hossain, Deputy Secretary of the Election Management-2 Wing of the Election Commission Secretariat, it was stated: “In light of the order dated January 5, 2026, of the Honorable Appellate Division in CMP No. 1105/2025 concerning the boundary of National Parliamentary Constituencies 68 Pabna-1 and 69 Pabna-2, the Election Commission has decided to suspend the election of Constituencies 68 Pabna-1 and 69 Pabna-2 of the 13th National Parliamentary Election scheduled to be held on February 12, 2026, until further instructions are issued.”

Ahead of the 13th National Parliamentary Election, the Election Commission restructured parliamentary constituencies and published a gazette on September 4 last year. In that gazette, the entire Santhia Upazila was finalized as Pabna-1 constituency, and Sujanagar and Bera Upazilas together were finalized as the boundary of the Pabna-2 constituency.

Challenging the legality of this decision, Zahidul Islam of Bera Upazila and Abu Sayeed of Santhia Upazila filed writ petitions in the High Court.

After a preliminary hearing, the High Court issued a rule on September 17 last year. Following the hearing of the rule, the High Court delivered its verdict on December 18.

In that verdict, the portion of the gazette that excluded four unions and the municipality of Bera Upazila from the Pabna-1 constituency and added them to Pabna-2 was declared “without lawful authority.”

At the same time, the court directed that the Pabna-1 and Pabna-2 constituencies be restored to their previous boundaries and that a gazette be published within 24 hours.

Subsequently, on December 24, the Election Commission published a revised notification regarding the two Pabna constituencies. In that notification, Pabna-1 was shown to include the entire Santhia Upazila along with Bera Municipality and the Haturia Nakalia, Natun Varenga, Chakla, and Kaitola unions of Bera Upazila. Pabna-2 was shown to include the remaining five unions of Bera Upazila and the entire Sujanagar Upazila.

Jamaat-e-Islami candidate Mohammad Najibur Rahman from the Pabna-1 constituency and the Election Commission separately filed applications seeking a stay of the High Court verdict.

On January 5, after hearing those applications, the apex court stayed the relevant portion of the Election Commission’s revised notification dated December 24.

The Appellate Division, headed by Chief Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury, stated in its order that the stay would remain in effect until leave to appeal is filed.

As a result, the Election Commission’s gazette issued on September 4 regarding the two Pabna constituencies came back into effect. That is, Pabna-1 consisting of Santhia Upazila and Pabna-2 consisting of Sujanagar and Bera Upazilas remained in force.

Due to this boundary-related complication, the Election Commission announced the decision to suspend voting activities in the Pabna-1 and Pabna-2 constituencies until further court orders are received. However, voting activities in the remaining 298 constituencies will continue as usual.