The Hindu : Delimitation spectre haunts affected MLAs

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 12, 2003

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Delimitation spectre haunts affected MLAs

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI FEB. 11. Even as proposals for delimitation of Assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies continue to haunt the leadership of both the Congress and the BJP, the Delhi Congress MLAs and party leaders today decided to oppose any changes in the profile of the Assembly segments, including deletion or addition of polling booths.

At a high-level meeting convened at the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee headquarters here, a large number of affected MLAs made it clear that they were opposed to any changes. They urged the party and the Government to place this viewpoint before the Delimitation Commission, set up under an Act of Parliament to carry out the exercise throughout the country.

The DPCC president, Subhash Chopra, had convened the meeting to seek the views of party men and elected representatives on the issue.

The meeting was convened after the MLAs expressed concern over the changes being effected in nearly 20 Assembly constituencies, including declaration of Bhalaswa Jehangirpuri as reserved seat. Now an open constituency, it is held by the Congress member, Zile Singh Chauhan. The MLAs, including Mahabal Mishra, Kiran Walia, Nasib Singh, Shadi Ram and Praladh Singh Sawhney, felt that making changes at this juncture was not feasible as elections were hardly eight months away.

"The changes being effected in the polling stations in Assembly segments are not a correct thing to do at a time when elections are hardly a few months away. The exercise should be deferred till the elections are held,'' remarked Mr. Mishra.

Apart from Mr.Chopra, who held extensive discussions with a cross-section of party workers, others who took part in the meeting included the Assembly Speaker, Chaudhary Prem Singh, former MPs Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler, and the Delhi Industry and Elections Minister, Deep Chand Bandhu.

The proposals submitted by the Government, the Vidhan Sabha Committee and the party came up for discussion during the meeting. The unanimous view was that everyone should oppose changes in the constituencies and this should be made known to the Delimitation Commission, through official and party channels.

After prolonged deliberations, the scene shifted to the residence of Mr. Bandhu on Shyam Nath Marg where another round of discussions was held between senior leaders and elected representatives. In fact, the constituencies that are likely to face deletion of polling stations or blocks include the Gole Market seat held by the Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit. Some areas in the Gole Market segment are being shifted to the Sarojni Nagar constituency, held by the BJP MLA, Ram Bhaj. Similarly, the constituencies that face deletion, according to the proposals, include Hauz Khas, Mehrauli, Saket, Badarpur, Mandawali, Pahar Ganj, Chandni Chowk, Timarpur and Sadar Bazar.

Constituencies that will have addition of polling stations, according to the proposals, include Ram Nagar, some areas of Sadar Bazar and Chandni Chowk, Kamla Nagar, Ballimaran, Sarojni Nagar, Okhla, Mehrauli, Dr. Ambedkar Nagar, Patparganj, Vishwas Nagar and Bhalaswa Jehangirpuri.

Interestingly, the delimitation exercise is a quasi-judicial process and the proposals of the Government, the party or even the associate committee of Vidhan Sabha are not binding upon the Commission to take a decision and they are only taken as views submitted by a cross-section of the polity, a fact which a majority of the elected representatives are unaware of.

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