Editorial
Delimitation of constituencies
A welcome step
The process of delimitation of constituencies that has got underway is an eminently logical, timely and necessary step. We welcome it. This is in keeping with the need for administrative convenience as well as taking the population density factor into consideration so that the number of voters is about the same in all the constituencies except of course for the hill districts, where there are three seats in all.
We feel that such delimitation has a direct correlation with election expenditure ceiling laid down for the candidates. Given the fact that the number of voters in the constituencies varies approximately between two and five hundred thousand, the fixation of a particular amount of money as campaign expenditure for all the constituencies, irrespective of their number of voters, is incongruent. The redrawing of electoral boundaries as per the 2001 census, and formulation of new list of constituencies one hopes will accord uniformity to the delimitation.
However, there is a word of caution that we want to express.
Redrawing of the electoral map has many implications. For one thing the election commission needs to guard against any possible gerrymandering that might accord advantage to some political parties at the expense of others. The legal implications and the associated complications must also be fully comprehended by the election commission before delimitation. At no time should the political parties have any scope to question the motive of the commission and at no time should the latter get involved in litigation over the adjustment of the electoral areas. The downside of it is that the timeframe for holding the election might be affected.
We note from the CEC's remarks that the commission will try and steer clear of any possible complications and that it might discuss with the political parties once the draft for redrawing the area within the districts is prepared.
We feel that there is strong rationale to discuss the issue with the political parties ab initio. We fully acknowledge the fact that such consultation is not mandatory on the part of the election commission. But explaining the rationale of the exercise to the political parties will help avoid any misunderstanding in this regard. And there is no palpable benefit for anybody, least of all the election commission, in making the political parties feel ignored. After all, they are one of the major stake holders who should be interested in having a free and fair election.
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