The Union Government is likely to bring an ordinance to amend the Delimitation Act to exclude certain states from its purview. Though the names of the states could not be ascertained, indications are that four north-eastern states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Manipur, and Jharkhand are most likely to be excluded on account of existing contentious issues like tribal census, law and order problem, and ongoing disputes between these states and the Centre. While the work on readjustment of constituencies has already been completed for all other states, the process is still on in the north-eastern states and is expected to be over by next month.The Union Government, under pressure from various quarters and with no plausible excuse or reason, has in principle accepted that it will issue notification for implementation of delimitation orders soon. The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) also had approved the exercise despite opposition from certain political parties. However, the present move of the Government, it seems, is aimed at arming itself at least with an appropriate law to escape notifying delimitation orders in certain states in order to avoid any controversy on politically sensitive issues.Expressing similar views, Delimitation Commission Chairperson Justice Kuldeep Singh told The Indian Express that the commission has done its job and if the Government wants to exclude certain states for some very compelling reasons, then it is free to do so. “There are some problems in these states regarding enumeration of tribal population in the census. Apart from that, the Assam accord and the problem of illegal immigrants may be the reasons why the Government would want to exclude these states for the time being. There are some litigation issues as well pending with some states,” said Singh. He, however, added that for rest of the states there are no problems as the exercise has been undertaken in consultation with all parties concerned. “The Commission followed the proper procedure and carried out the delimitation process strictly in accordance with law, taking into consideration all views and objections,” he said.
