A group of Bodo leaders has urged President APJ Abdul Kalam to persuade the Centre to take appropriate steps to ensure reservation of two parliamentary constituencies falling under Bodo-administered areas of Assam for Scheduled Tribes.
In a joint memorandum, the leaders led by MP SK Bwiswmuthiary said that the government should reserve the Kokrajhar and Udalguri constituencies for STs even by amending the Constitution.
Article 330 (1) (B) states that seats shall be reserved in the Lok Sabha for the STs except STs in the autonomous districts of Assam. However, Article 330 (1) (C) says that seats in the Lok Sabha shall be reserved for STs in the autonomous districts of Assam.
"The Kokrajhar constituency, reserved for the STs (Plains) of Assam has been shown as open/general in the latest draft working paper of the Delimitation Commission of India, which is a matter of serious concern," the memorandum said.
"This has been an act of denial of the Constitutional rights and the inalienable political rights to the indigenous STs of Bodoland Territorial Areas District (BTAD) in violation of the spirit of the provisions of Article 330 (1) (C)," it said.
The memorandum said a new political arrangement had come into being in the form of BTAD after the February 2003 agreement between the Centre, the Assam government and the rebel group Bodo Liberation Tigers under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
{{/usCountry}}The memorandum said a new political arrangement had come into being in the form of BTAD after the February 2003 agreement between the Centre, the Assam government and the rebel group Bodo Liberation Tigers under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
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