Final Delimitation evokes mixed reaction in Barak Valley

 A CORRESPONDENT

SILCHAR: The final delimitation had evoked mixed reaction in Barak Valley as the ruling party welcomed the list released by the Election Commission while the opposition leaders like Susmita Dev, Kamalakha Dey Purkayastha pointed fingers at the Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for the loss Barak Valley had incurred as two out of 15 Assembly segments had been chopped off.

Common people, however, appeared to be silent though a major section of leading citizens reacted sharply against the decision of the Commission of chopping off two Assembly segments which, they feared, was a sign of step-motherly attitude towards the Bengali speaking milieu of the valley. A ruling party MLA who preferred to remain anonymous said, with this delimitation, representation of Muslims in the Assembly would be limited within 3 against the current 6 MLA. Hindus, be it from any party, would have much more representation in the state legislature.

However, a large section in the saffron brigade was unhappy with decision of making Karimganj unreserved as the chance of Muslim candidate winning the Lok Sabha seat was much more bright. The Karimganj Lok Sabha constituency now consisting of six assembly segments had at least 1.5 lakh more Muslim voter than the Hindus.

Further the prestigious Silchar Lok Sabha seat had been marked reserved for the SC community and this decision too was not well accepted even in the ruling party. Dr Rajdeep Roy who represents Silchar in the Lok Sabha during his deliberation in the public hearing on the draft delimitation had clearly mentioned that if a constituency sharing border with Bangladesh be unreserved it would turn into a second Kashmir. Roy was unavailable after the final delimitation was out on Friday. On the other hand, Susmita Dev, whose Rajya Sabha term ended on Friday, said the delimitation was a document that highlighted attitude of Himanta Biswa Sarma towards Barak Valley.

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