Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, December 13:
Chief Minister O Ibobi today informed the House that the Delimitation Commission has intimated to the State Government that the case of Manipur with regard to the proposed Delimitation exercise will be discussed at New Delhi on December 23 as part of the preliminary round.
Answering to a question raised by FPM MLA L Ibomcha during a short duration discussion, the CM said that an all political party delegation will take part in the discussion and added that the delegates would urge the Delimitation Commission to maintain the status quo keeping in mind the situation in the State.
An all political party had earlier submitted a memorandum to the Delimitation Commission not to disturb the existing Assembly seats arrangement, said the Chief Minister.
The same has also been conveyed to the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister, he said and added that their responses have been positive.
Acknowledging sensitivity of the issue at hand, the Chief Minister said that the State Government is taking extra care to deal with the matter and added that the State Cabinet had taken a decision and conveyed to the Delimitation Commission to arrange the population growth within the district itself without disturbing the seat arrangements.
The Chief Minister further said that when they heard about the Delimitation move, the State Govt studied the population growth and found that abnormal growth of population was detected in some parts of the valley area as well as in the hill districts especially at Senapati and Chandel.
The population growth recorded in these two districts was way above the National growth at 164 percent, he noted.
As the State Govt made a strong case against such an abnormal population growth, the Delimitation Commission slashed the growth by 39 pc, said the Chief Minister.
If these measures were not taken up, then five ACs from the valley areas would have gone to the hill districts, he informed the House.
The Chief Minister further said that opinion and suggestions of legal experts will be sought to see if it would be useful to constitute a fact finding committee of the Assembly to ascertain the population growth.
Earlier moving the discussion, MLA L Ibomcha said that there is nothing wrong if three ACs from the valley areas go to the Hill constituencies as they would all remain within Manipur.