Nishikant Dubey: In 1973 delimitation, only Congress states got more seats

Speaking during Zero Hour, Dubey, flashing a copy of the Delimitation Act, 1973, said: “Congress had said the delimitation would take place on the basis of population. It is the same party which advocated for making population the benchmark for the delimitation drive. In the delimitation exercise that happened in 1973, there was no change in the number of seats in Uttar Pradesh. Don’t talk about the population here. Even Tamil Nadu did not have any increase. The increase happened only in Congress-ruled states — be it Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra or Rajasthan.”

While taking an exception to the Opposition’s “silence” on Jharkhand’s exclusion during the 2008 delimitation process, Dubey said that in the state, the population of adivasis (tribals) has fallen “from 45 % in 1951 to 28% in 2011” while the “Muslim population has gone up from 9% to 24%”.

He said the state would now lose at least three assembly seats and one Lok Sabha seat in the delimitation exercise “due to Bangladeshi infiltrators”.  “The Bangladeshi infiltrators are forcibly marrying the Adivasi girls in Jharkhand and converting them. I urge the Government that when they conduct the delimitation exercise, they should exclude the Bangladeshi infiltrators,” Dubey said.

Meanwhile, DMK’s D M Kathir Anand kept the heat on Tamil Nadu’s concern over the impending delimitation exercise.

Tamil Nadu’s population has been significantly lower compared to North Indian states and insisting on population figures for delimitation is “total injustice” to the state, Anand said.