Parties underplay impact of delimitation of constituencies

Fresh delimitation of physical boundaries of Lok Sabha seats is widely believed to have altered the electoral equations significantly enough for parties to eschew the sitting-getting formula in seat-sharing discussions, reports Rai Atul Krishna.

Fresh delimitation of physical boundaries of Lok Sabha seats is widely believed to have altered the electoral equations significantly enough for parties to eschew the sitting-getting formula in seat-sharing discussions. Yet, leaders of mainline parties claim either that delimitation has gone to their advantage or that their party is neutral to the development.

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JD-U State president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lallan Singh said although the last word on fresh delimitation had to come from the people, his party was fully satisfied with the way it had gone. “Every party has its own assessment of the delimitation impact. But the good work done by the Nitish Kumar regime will prevail over caste and muscle power,” he told HT.

Bihar BJP president Radha Mohan Singh said his party had done a full impact assessment of delimitation and the situation of the NDA as a whole had improved. Party vice-president Lal Babu Prasad told HT delimitation had added to the BJP’s strength in the 16 Lok Sabha seats in its quota. “Even in most affected seats like Buxar and Sasaram, we are stronger,” he added.

Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee (BPCC) president Anil Kumar Sharma felt fresh delimitation was a major positive for his party as it had diluted the pre-dominance of particular castes in various constituencies. “Now, the elections will be held more on the base of parties’ policies, programmes and quality of candidates it fields. This will be to Congress advantage,” Sharma said.

RJD’s Ghulam Ghaus, Leader of Opposition in the Sate Legislative Council, insisted that the work done by Lalu Yadav as Railway Minister would count for much more than any impact that fresh delimitation might have. “It is difficult to quantify the delimitation impact whereas new trains and stations introduced by the Railway Minister are for all to see,” he explained.