They created a ruckus in the Lok Sabha during zero hour, forcing speaker Somnath Chatterjee to adjourn the House till 2pm.
NEW DELHI: Even as the redrawing of India’s constituency map for proper demographic representation has pitted the Delimitation Commission against the government, several MPs who fear loss of their constituencies strongly demanded on Friday that the delimitation exercise be kept in abeyance.
They created a ruckus in the Lok Sabha during zero hour, forcing speaker Somnath Chatterjee to adjourn the House till 2pm.
The commission has completed its final notification for reorganisation of parliamentary and assembly constituencies in 25 states based on the 2001 census. The commission’s term has since been extended to July 31, 2008, to complete the remaining states and Union territories.
The next Lok Sabha polls in 2009 will have to be conducted as per the recommendations of the commission.
While there will be an increase of 12 seats for Dalits in the Lok Sabha and 59 in assemblies, over a dozen important leaders belonging to various parties will be forced to change their constituencies once the exercise is over and notified.
Agitated BSP, RJD, JDU and Trinamool Congress members raised the issue. Though Congress, BJP and CPI(M) members will also be affected, they chose to keep mum.
“The Delimitation Commission has not done its job. It has misused the powers given by Parliament,” said Prabhu Nath Singh (JDU).
As the speaker refused permission to raise the issue, the members created a din. Vijay Krishna of RJD and Iliyas Azmi of the BSP trooped into the well.
The Telengana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) is perhaps the only party which has come out in support of the commission. Party MP Ravindra Naik even moved the Supreme Court for implementing delimitation. The apex court has issued notices to the Election Commission as well as the Delimitation Commission.
The Delimitation Commission was constituted under section 3 of the Delimitation Act, 2002, vide Government of India Gazette Notification. But the exercise was delayed due to Parliament polls in 2004, some associate members of the commission nominated to the LS and the Gauhati high court staying the delimitation exercise for some states.
k_benedict@dnaindia.net
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