Reports of polls suspended in Pabna seats not true: EC

The Election Commission has said reports claiming that voting has been suspended in Pabna-1 and Pabna-2 parliamentary constituencies are not correct.

The clarification was made in a press note issued by the Information Department on Friday, November 9.

The commission urged media outlets to refrain from publishing misleading information and to withdraw any such reports already published.

Earlier on Friday, several media outlets reported that the elections in Pabna-1 and Pabna-2 had been suspended, citing comments by Election Commissioner Abdur Rahmanel Masud. Later, he clarified that the elections had not been suspended.

He said that only the electoral activities in the two constituencies would remain temporarily halted until further orders from the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court.

Following a High Court verdict, the Election Commission issued a revised notification on December 24 restoring the previous boundaries of Pabna-1 and Pabna-2. However, on January 5, the Appellate Division stayed that portion of the notification after hearing an application filed by a candidate. The order was passed by the Appellate Division bench led by Chief Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury.

Ahead of the 13th parliamentary election, the Election Commission had published a final gazette on September 4 last year redrawing constituency boundaries. Under that gazette, the entire Santhia upazila was designated as Pabna-1, while Sujanagar and Bera upazilas were designated as Pabna-2.