The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Delimitation: meeting of floor leaders today

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 26, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Delimitation: meeting of floor leaders today

Special Correspondent

Members cutting across party lines express dissent

BANGALORE: Following the dissent expressed by members of the Legislative Assembly, irrespective of party affiliation, on the issue of delimitation of constituencies, the Speaker, Krishna, has convened a meeting of the floor leader of all parties with the Chief Minister on Tuesday to arrive at a consensus on the issue and to put pressure on the Union Government to go by the State's recommendations.

It was the Minister for Water Resources, M. Mallikarjun Kharge, who set the ball rolling by mentioning that the issue has to be sorted out before the August 9 meeting of the Commission on Delimitation of Constituencies, headed by Justice Kuldip Singh.

Echoing similar views, the Minister for Revenue, M.P. Prakash, said the Union Government has to rethink on the delimitation issue as the proposals have been on an "unscientific basis". The Commission should make available the digital mapping of the constituencies to the legislators before taking any decision. There is an urgency to take a delegation to the Union Government.

The Leader of the Opposition, B.S. Yediyurappa, pointed out that a five-member committee of legislators has not met even once since it was constituted. The Kannada Chaluvali Paksha leader, Vatal Nagaraj, and the Janata Dal (United) floor leader, J.C. Madhuswamy, said they were not aware of the constitution of the committee and the parameters under which it is supposed to be working.

However, they maintained that as there are a lot of discrepancies in the process of delimitation, the process has to be postponed to allow time for legislators to make their views known.

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