The Hindu : Kerala News : Delimitation process on course: Tandon

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 01, 2005

Kerala

Kerala

Delimitation process on course: Tandon

By A Correspondent

NEDUMBASSERY, FEB. 28. The Central Election Commissioner, B.B. Tandon, has said that the delimitation process in Kerala is progressing well and that the next Assembly election will be held on the basis of delimited constituencies. The electoral rolls in the State will be reformulated with the completion of the delimitation process and will be updated as on January 1, 2006.

Talking to presspersons at Cochin international airport in Nedumbassery today, he said the draft proposals of the Delimitation Commission had been finalised. The draft will be sent to the associate members of the Delimitation Commission from the State. Thereafter, the draft will be published along with dissent notes, if any, of the associate members.

The Delimitation Commission has 10 associate members from the State, five MLAs and five MPs.

Public hearings

The Delimitation Commission is planning to hold open public hearings towards the end of April in Kozhikode, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram, to invite suggestions from the general public, said Mr. Tandon, who is also a member of the Delimitation Commission.

The Delimitation Commission, after considering the suggestions received during the public hearings and the opinion of the associate members, will draft the final report. The final proposals will be notified in the gazette. However, these proposals will come into force subject to the approval of the President of India, Mr. Tandon said.

He said that Kerala would be the first State to have electoral rolls affixed with photographs. The next Assembly election will see the full-fledged use of photo electoral rolls. The electorate will be given an opportunity to verify the photo electoral rolls to ensure that the photos and names are entered correctly.

Asked whether the photo electoral rolls would be made available for local body elections, he said no such suggestions are under consideration now. He, however, said that it was preferable to have common rolls for the general and local body elections.

EVMs

He said that as of now there was no decision to lend Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) for the conduct of local body elections. But the matter will be discussed with the State Election Commission if such a demand arises. The preparation of photo electoral rolls has been taken up as a substitute to the practice of issuing photo identity cards and this is expected to further streamline the election process, he said.

He said the current provisions were inadequate to weed out criminal elements from the election scene.

The Election Commission has recommended changes in laws whereby those found prima facie guilty by courts could be disqualified from contesting.

He asked political parties to voluntarily follow a code of conduct to prevent space for unscrupulous candidates.

He said the decision to ban five MPs from entering their constituencies during the Bihar Assembly election was not taken by the Election Commission. It was a decision taken by the District Magistrates concerned.

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