Villagers oppose delimitation plan, say it’s ‘partition’

Villagers of Kairang, Khomidok and Khabeisoi, who have come together to form the JAC, are demanding that Kairang be merged with the latter two villages. At present, Kairang is under Heingang Assembly constituency, while Khomidok and Khabeisoi are under Khurai Assembly constituency. As per the proposed delimitation, Khomidok would be brought under Heingang and Khabeisoi would be under Khundrakpam. The JAC has said it would be presenting the CM with a memorandum detailing the same and has also planned agitations in this regard.

The delimitation process, based on the 2001 census, has been under fire from valley-based politicians of several parties, as the outcome of the exercise would reduce the number of Assembly constituencies in the valley, while adding to those in the hills. At present, 40 seats in the 60-member Assembly are in the valley, while 20 are in the hills.

Valley politicians are questioning the reliability of some parts of the 2001 Census which show an abnormal population growth rate in hill districts of Senapati and Chandel, while valley constituencies show a normal growth rate. As per the latest Census, Senapati district witnessed growth by 81.6 per cent while Chandel grew by 72.8 per cent. In comparison, all valley districts showed increase of under 30 per cent.

Ibobi, who had successfully moved a resolution in the Assembly as leader of the House terming the population growth in Senapati and Chandel as “highly irrational and unaccounted for”, has said that the outcome of the all-party meeting on December 5 would be conveyed to the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister by a multi-party delegation on December 7, along with a request to refrain from conducting the delimitation exercise in the entire Northeast. Taking note of the strong objections raised over the exercise, the Delimitation Commission working in the state has also convened a meeting of its associate members on December 10.