HYDERABAD: The Congress has pointed out shortcomings in the Delimitation Commission notification, saying that the panel has failed to follow its own guidelines while finalising the Assembly and parliamentary constituencies.

At a press conference here on Friday, Bapatla MLA and associate member of the commission Gade Venkat Reddy said political parties would not have pointed a finger at the commission had it consulted elected representatives before preparing the working paper.

"There are differences in the working paper, draft paper and final notification," he said, pointing out that selection of SC constituencies had caused confusion. He said the Commission notification showed a cluster of constituencies reserved for the Scheduled Castes like three segments in Prakasam district.

He said the commission had pointed out that there could not be cluster of SC or ST segments.

There was an outcry when an objection was raised against three Lok Sabha constituencies Ramagundam, Peddapalli and Karimnagar being reserved for SCs based on the population.

Ultimately, Karimnagar was retained as a general constituency though the same yardstick was not applied to Addanki, Kondepi and Santhanuthalapadu. He said that the contours of some segments had completely changed after mandals were shifted to new constituencies.

Mohd. Jani, MLC, complained that elected representatives were not involved in the delimitation exercise. The commission violated its own guidelines in selection of mandals. The commission failed to follow the rule of natural boundaries while finalising the constituencies. All the parties were disappointed, he added.

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