Cabinet okays delimitation, notification soon
Ending weeks of speculation, the Union Cabinet on Thursday decided to endorse recommendations of the Delimitation Commission.
By TNN |
NEW DELHI : Ending weeks of speculation, the Union Cabinet on Thursday decided to endorse recommendations of the Delimitation Commission. President Pratibha Patil, accordingly, is likely to issue the notification soon in this regard, setting in motion the process of holding the next round of assembly polls and the 2009 general election under a redrawn electoral map.
The move is likely to be used by the Manmohan Singh government to stall the assembly polls in Karnataka, which is currently going through a spell of President���s rule.
The Presidential notification on delimitation will cover 24 states and Union Territories, and will exclude Jharkhand, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland, where the exercise of redrawing the electoral maps could not be completed because of local resistance.
``This will bring the new delimitation orders issued by the Delimitation Commission into force and pave the way for election to the House of the People and the legislative assembly of each state on the basis of new territorial constituencies,������ information and broadcasting minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi said while briefing newspersons about the outcome of the cabinet meeting.
Asked about Karnataka, where assembly polls are due to be held by May this year,
he said ``the moment the notification is signed, the states go by the delimited constituencies.������
Under the redrawn electoral map, the number of seats reserved for SCs and STs will go up from 119 to 132, reflecting the increase in the population of these social categories over the last 32 years. While the SCs will see the number of constituencies reserved for them go up by 6, in the case of STs, it���ll be 7.
The reconfiguration of seats, and the increase in the number of Lok Sabha constituencies falling under the reserved category, is likely to affect political fortunes of several leading political figures. A number of seats falling presently in the `general��� category will now be reserved, forcing the politicians representing them in the Lok Sabha to look for alternative seats.
These include Bolpur (represented by Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee), Latur (which even home minister Shivraj Patil could not win in 2004), Shillong (Union minister P R Kyndiah), Ahmedabad (former Union minister Harin Pathak), Bulandshahr (former UP chief minister Kalyan Singh), Bikaner (veteran film actor Dharmendra), Faridkot (SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal), the Nilgiris (former Union minister R Prabhu), Dausa (Sachin Pilot), Shahjahanpur (Jitin Prasada), Agra (Raj Babbar), Tura (NCP leader P A Sangma) and Gopalgunj (Sadhu Yadav).
The move is likely to be used by the Manmohan Singh government to stall the assembly polls in Karnataka, which is currently going through a spell of President���s rule.
The Presidential notification on delimitation will cover 24 states and Union Territories, and will exclude Jharkhand, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland, where the exercise of redrawing the electoral maps could not be completed because of local resistance.
``This will bring the new delimitation orders issued by the Delimitation Commission into force and pave the way for election to the House of the People and the legislative assembly of each state on the basis of new territorial constituencies,������ information and broadcasting minister Priyaranjan Dasmunsi said while briefing newspersons about the outcome of the cabinet meeting.
Asked about Karnataka, where assembly polls are due to be held by May this year,
he said ``the moment the notification is signed, the states go by the delimited constituencies.������
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The Cabinet simultaneously approved a proposal to supersede the earlier Delimitation Order of 1976 and to amend the Representation of the People Act, 1950, to reflect the changes in reservation of SC and ST seats in accordance with the redrawn electoral map.Under the redrawn electoral map, the number of seats reserved for SCs and STs will go up from 119 to 132, reflecting the increase in the population of these social categories over the last 32 years. While the SCs will see the number of constituencies reserved for them go up by 6, in the case of STs, it���ll be 7.
The reconfiguration of seats, and the increase in the number of Lok Sabha constituencies falling under the reserved category, is likely to affect political fortunes of several leading political figures. A number of seats falling presently in the `general��� category will now be reserved, forcing the politicians representing them in the Lok Sabha to look for alternative seats.
These include Bolpur (represented by Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee), Latur (which even home minister Shivraj Patil could not win in 2004), Shillong (Union minister P R Kyndiah), Ahmedabad (former Union minister Harin Pathak), Bulandshahr (former UP chief minister Kalyan Singh), Bikaner (veteran film actor Dharmendra), Faridkot (SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal), the Nilgiris (former Union minister R Prabhu), Dausa (Sachin Pilot), Shahjahanpur (Jitin Prasada), Agra (Raj Babbar), Tura (NCP leader P A Sangma) and Gopalgunj (Sadhu Yadav).
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Union steel and chemicals and fertiliser minister Ram Vilas Paswan too will have reasons to worry, as the Hajipur Lok Sabha constituency, which helped him create electoral records in the past, is getting de-reserved. So is Akbarpur in UP, held in the past by chief minister Mayawati.Download
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