By IANS
New Delhi : The Delimitation (Amendment) Bill, 2008, to alter the boundaries of constituencies following the Delimitation Commission’s recommendations, was introduced in the Lok Sabha Monday by Law Minister Hansraj Bhardwaj.
The Delimitation (Amendment) Bill, 2008, seeks to further amend the Delimitation Act, 2002.
The Delimitation Commission, headed by retired Supreme Court judge Kuldip Singh, submitted its report earlier this year recommending redrawing of parliamentary and assembly constituencies on the basis of the 2001 census.
Though the total number of seats will remain the same, the number of seats reserved for Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribes will go up.
The union cabinet had passed an ordinance Jan 10 stating that all future polls should be held as per the new boundaries set on the basis of the Delimitation Commission report. President Pratibha Patil gave her consent to the ordinance.
The delimitation will be effective in 24 states. It exempts Jharkhand and four northeastern states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland.
Many prominent politicians like Shivraj Patil (Latur), Somnath Chatterjee (Bolpur), Sachin Pilot (Dausa), Jitin Prasada (Shahjahanpur), Mulayam Singh Yadav (Etawah) and Kalyan Singh (Bulandshahr) will have to look for other constituencies as these seats will now be reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates.