LUCKNOW: Opposition to reserve certain Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh dominated the proceedings of the Delimitation Commission of India's two-day hearing on objections which concluded here on Sunday.

The hearing was conducted by the Chief Election Commisioner, N Gopala Swami. He was assisted by the State Election Commissioner for Panchayat and Local Bodies Polls, Aparmita Prasad Singh and the Chief Electoral Officer of U.P., Anuj Kumar Bishnoi.

On the concluding day, the Commission recorded objections on its proposal to declare Bahraich Lok Sabha seat in central U.P. as reserved. Currently, Bahraich is a general seat. Protesting the move, the State Labour Minister Waqar Ahmed Shah, whose wife, Rubiya Sayeed, is the Samajwadi Party MP from Bahraich, said 17 of the 80 Parliamentary constituencies in the State are proposed to be reserved in accordance with the Scheduled Caste population.

Mr Shah pointed out that in the descending order of Scheduled Caste population, Bahraich with 16.04 per cent Scheduled Caste population occupied the 65th position, yet it had been made a reserved seat. The Minister told the panel that even as Bahraich had been declared a reserved seat, its neighbouring parliamentary constituencies, Domariaganj, Basti and Sant Kabir Nagar, where the Scheduled Caste population was 16.53 per cent, 20.87 per cent and 23.72 per cent respectively, have been left untouched. He urged the retention of Bahraich as a general seat.

Former Union Minister and senior Samajwadi Party leader, Beni Prasad Verma, pressed for his case to de-reserve Barabanki parliamentary constituency, neighbouring Lucknow. Mr Verma said constituencies should be reserved in accordance with the maximum population of the Scheduled Castes, and added that Barabanki was enjoying the status of reserved seat since 1977 and it should now be made general.

Criticising the methodology for declaring a seat reserved, Mr Verma said four neighboring constituencies, Harchandpur, Mohanlalganj, Misrikh and Barabanki have been made reserved whereas according to the delimitation rules reserved Lok Sabha constituencies should not be coterminous.

The Minister of State for PWD, Arvind Kumar Singh "Gope" , demanded that Haidergarh Assembly seat in Barabanki district be retained as a general seat since the population of general category and OBCs outnumbered those of Scheduled Castes. Mr Singh is the MLA from Haidergarh.

In its second draft proposal on the basis of which the hearing was being conducted the Commission had declared the following 17 LS constituencies as reserved: Nagina, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Hathras, Shahjahanpur, Misrikh, Mohanlalganj, Harchandpur, Etawah, Jalaun, Kaushambi, Barabanki, Bahraich, Bansgaon, Lalganj, Machlishahr and Robertsganj.

During its two-day stay in the State Capital, the panel conducted the hearing on the proposed delimitation of Lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies in Lucknow, Bareilly, Faizabad and Devi Patan divisions.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail