At a discussion with members of the Constituency Delineation Commission (CDC) held in the capital on Monday, NC leader Bimalendra Nidhi argued that the number of electoral constituencies in Madhes should be increased in proportion to the population increased there over the last decade.
The CDC has started discussions with stakeholders in order to gauge their opinion on the delineation of constituencies.
“While the population in Madhes stood at 48.40 percent of the total national population 10 years ago, this has now gone up to 50.27 percent,” Nidhi told Republica, “So, the number of electoral constituencies should also increase accordingly.”
There were 116 electoral constituencies in Madhes and 124 in the hills during the last election held in 2008.
Nidhi maintained that there was discrimination against the Tarai region while electoral constituencies were delineated for the 2008 poll.
CPN-UML leader and advocate Agni Kharel maintained that a particular region should not be treated as a single entity in order to increase the number of electoral constituencies there.
“District-wise population growth should be taken into consideration in increasing the number of electoral constituencies,” he said and asked, “How can we treat the entire Madhes as a single electoral constituency?”
Kharel maintained that electoral constituencies should be delineated on the basis of geography, population and administrative access.
UCPN (Maoist) leader Hita Raj Pandey stated that geography, population and culture should be prioritized while delineating electoral constituencies for the new CA poll. "The CDC should take necessary decisions on determining the electoral constituencies as it needs to neither increase nor reduce the number of constituencies from 240,” Pandey said.
Stating that the commission should delineate the electoral constituencies as per existing constitutional provisions, Vice-chairman of Tarai Madhes Democratic Party (TMDP) Hridayesh Tripathi said that constituencies should be increased in accordance with population growth.
MPRF leader Shivaji Prasad Yadav claimed that there would be 122 electoral constituencies in Madhes in proportion to the population there. He warned that less than 122 electoral constituencies in Madhes would not be acceptable to his party.
Chairman of Rastriya Janamorcha Party Chitra Bahadur KC said there would not be any electoral constituency left in the hills region in future if population alone was made the basis for constituency delineation as migration from the hills to the Tarai was high.
CDC members have also sought suggestions from political parties on the population threshold for constituency delineations. However, leaders present at the discussion stated that it is the commission that should take the decisions regarding the issue.
Asked about threshold, a member requesting anonymity said, “We will take a decision on it only after holding discussions with experts.”
Leaders representing 15 political parties were present at the discussion. The CDC is scheduled to hold meetings with other parties on Tuesday and with experts on Wednesday.
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