No delimitation no Assembly elections

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No delimitation, no Assembly elections

By: H Benjamin Mate *

There was delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies in 1972-73 on the basis of the 1971 census. I remember one Assembly constituency was added to Churachandpur district after abolishing Phaisat constituency.

The new addition was 59 Saikot AC. Articles 81, 82, 170, 330 and 332 have been amended under the Constitution (Eighty fourth Amendment) Act, 2001 and notified on the 21st February 2002.

Accordingly, Parliament also enacted the Delimitation Act 2002 which was notified on the 4th June 2002. As a result, the Delimitation Commission was set up and has started functioning under the chairmanship of Justice Kuldip Singh, former Judge of the Supreme Court from the 4th July 2002, that is four years and five months back.

It is long enough to complete all the process of delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies in the country including the State of Manipur.

The cumulative effects of the said Constitutional Amendment were as follow:

The total number of existing seats as allocated to various States in the Lok Sabha shall remain unaltered till first census to be taken after 2006.
Likewise, the total number of existing seats in the Legislative Assemblies of all States also shall remain unaltered till the first census to be taken after 2006.
The number of seats to be reserved for the SC and the Scheduled Tribes in the Lok Sabha and the State Legislative Assemblies be re-worked on the basis of 2001 census.
Each State shall be redelimited into territorial Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies on the basis of 2001 census and the extent of such constituencies as delimited now shall remain frozen till the census to be taken after 2006.
The constituencies shall be so re-delimited that the population on the basis of 2001 census of each Parliamentary and Assembly constituency a state shall, so far as practicable, be the same throughout the State.

Attention: Reserved constituencies for the scheduled tribe must be re-worked on the basis of the 2001 census. The constituencies shall be so re-delimited on the basis of 2001 census shall have same population.

With an object to fulfil the salient points of the said Constitutional Amendment, the interest of all the people in Manipur is not to stall the process of delimitation taken up by the Delimitation Commission which is the absolute and apex authority as provided in Section 10(2) of the Delimitation Act, 2002.

It is also pertinent to mention that the Registrar General and Census Commissioner also is the supreme authority in regard to the process of census in the country. As such, Constitution of Officers Committee by the State to review the census is a futile exercise.

Precisely, after the publication of the final population figures of the State in June 2004 by the Census Authority it may be safely presumed that the Government of the State, the Secular Progressive (SPF) Govt led by the Congress was in the know of it.

Sleeping over a matter which is a direct concern of the State Govt for a long time cannot be an excuse for blurred and untimely pleadings. Even assuming that there was faulty, defective and manipulated census figure, who else is there in the dock except the SPF Govt?

On the basis of 2001 census and when the re-work on reservation for the tribal people was done, three Assembly constituencies should be reduced from the existing forty Assembly constituencies in the valley and three Assembly seats are to be added to the existing 19 reserved seats according to the Delimitation Commission's concept paper. It is the outcome of simple Arithmetic sans manipulation or favouritism.

It is unfortunate and lamentable some eminent citizens of the State including O Ibobi Singh, Chief Minister displayed pungent words of threat of turmoil and bloodshed in their representation to the court and the Delimitation Commission in order to stall the proceedings of delimitation after the preliminary meeting of the Delimitation Commission on the 24th June 2003 in which the Associate members also were present and where they have decided to increase three Assembly seats reserved for the tribal people in Ukhrul, Senapati and Chandel districts.

The award of the Delimitation Commission on the final 2001 census to the tribal people is not tantamount to extortion from the majority community. Denying the Constitutional right of the tribal people will be a glaring instance, a sabotage which runs counter to the veritable policy of co-existence in our State. Let us not forget that 50 Kangpoki Assembly Constituency which is in the heart of Sadar Hills Autonomous district is a general constituency till today.

The affidavit submitted by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner to the Delimitation Commission in June 2004 as regard to final population figure of the State, the affidavit of the Delimitation Commission and the Election Commission are final and are absolute decisions.

The decision taken by the Delimitation Commission and RR Rashmi, Chief Electoral Officer of Manipur on the 23rd Nov 2006 in Delhi asserted that the Gauhati High Court should be approached to revoke the earlier interim order to stall the process of the delimitation. Let them keep their words.

After the Munich peace conference in 1939 before the Second World War, the British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain said, 'Our patience is at an end'.

Likewise the patience of the tribal people in Manipur is at an end when we think about the dissolution of the six Autonomous district Councils about eighteen years back in 1989 by the Congress Ministry.

What is the special reason for not reviving the District Councils by the SPF Govt? At the time of demanding full-fledged statehood, autonomy in the hill districts was projected as the cementing force of territorial integrity of Manipur to the Central leaders.

The sinister move to steal delimitation of Assembly constituencies or even it is revived, attempt not to apply in the coming Assembly elections would result in blitzkrieg agitation from the tribal people.

H Benjamin Mate wrote this article for The Sangai Express. This article was webcasted on January 09th, 2007.

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