AASU joins chorus against delimitation

Guwahati, Mar 2 (UNI) The All Asom Student Union (AASU) today joined the other political parties against delimitation of constituencies, threatening to change the socio-politico dynamics of the state.

All the political parties have opposed delimitation and the AASU demanded that till the National Registrar of Citizen (NRC) was corrected, the process should be stopped.

The issue has snowballed into a major controversy, as already the Bodo political parties are up in arms over the proposed dereservation of the Kokrajhar Lok Sabha constituency.

Already a lower Asom bandh was observed and the traffic on the National Highway in the Bodo dominated areas as well as railway traffic remain suspended following Bodo parties' call for road and rail roko against the delimitation.

AASU adviser Dr Samujjal Kr Bhattacharrya addressing a press cobference said that political parties were opposing the delimitation for their own political gains, but the AASU was opposing on the point that the new process would be faulty as it was based on population.

''All the areas which had heavy influx from Bangladesh had a higher population and then there would be more constituencies. As a result there would be shift of balance of power from indigenous people to the Bangladeshis,'' he said.

The AASU believe that unless the constitutional safeguard of indigenous people was protected, there should not be any delimitation.

The delimitation activities are going on full swing and the Constituency Delimitation Commission is sitting at New Delhi today to hammer out an acceptable formula.

Already an all-party delegation from Asom had called on the Commission at New Delhi and the AASU informed that they would also be meeting the Commission next week, demanding temporary haltage to the delimitation process.

The process was already delayed by a year as it was supposed to be done before the last Assembly election but it was postponed at the last minute. The exercise would see reduction of constituencies in upper Asom while there would be substantial increase in lower Asom where there is huge Bangladeshi influx.

UNI