Dimapur, March 8 (MExN): The Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) on Sunday raised concern over the recent decision and notification of the Government of India to carry out the delimitation process in Nagaland and urged the government of the day to take the matter with the central government.
A press release from NDPP, Media & Communication Committee sought to clarify the matter and said that the decision to proceed with the delimitation exercise in Nagaland may “not be conducive with the present situation prevailing in the state since the Naga political talks have reached an advanced stage and the people are only awaiting the possible inking of the final settlement.”
With the likelihood of an increase in the number of seats in the Legislative Assembly and the Lok Sabha in the eventuality of a final settlement, it will definitely be in conflict with any delimitation exercise taken up at this juncture, the statement read.
The NDPP pointed out that Nagaland was excluded from the delimitation exercise of 2008 “because of the ongoing political talks on the Naga issue and because the Tribal Hohos and various Civil Society Organisations had raised objections to the procedure in which the process of delimitation was to be carried out which eventually led to the filing of various litigations in the Supreme Court of India on the issue.”
At that point of time, the state’s population census of 2001 was also put to question from various quarters since, in many areas there were population explosions which were as high as 300% over the 1991 census, it said.
NDPP also clarified that Nagaland was excluded because of these reasons and not because of insurgency or law and order related situation as notified in the gazette of India, dated February 28, 2020.
Further, it said that the tribal equity and dynamics of district representations are also crucial factors involved in the process of delimitation. Therefore, it becomes imperative to hold wide spread consultations with all tribal bodies, political parties, mass based organisations, NGOs and all other stake holders, before such an important exercise like the process of delimitation is undertaken, it said.
It also observed that taking up the delimitation process based on previous population censuses would be futile when a new census is to be carried out in the coming months and year.
It is therefore the view of the NDPP that the present notification of the Government of India is not in consonance with the prevailing situation in the state and things may get complicated if the exercise is followed purely on the laid down guidelines on delimitation, the statement read.
The NDPP appealed the PDA Government to urgently take up the matter with the Government of India and “present our unique case to them so that we avoid misunderstandings and complications in the future.”
Delimitation is the process of fixing limits or boundaries of territorial constituencies in a country or a province with a legislative body.
