Imphal, March 25 (IANS) Leaders of 16 political parties in Manipur held a significant meeting on Tuesday and urged the Central government to defer delimitation of constituencies till 2026, when national delimitation would be undertaken with the new census figures.

CPI-M Manipur state Kshetrimayum Santa, who was one of the three convenors of Tuesday’s meeting, said that the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress did not attend the meeting held at the state headquarters of the National People’s Party (NPP) at Uripok in Imphal.

“The meeting resolved that the delimitation in Manipur should not be held till the rectification of the errors in the 2001 census in Manipur. We have also decided to urge the Central government to defer the delimitation till 2026, when national delimitation would be undertaken with the new census figures,” Santa told the media after the meeting.

He said that the meeting also resolved that, considering the prevailing ethnic conflict in Manipur since May 3, 2023, it is not possible to carry out delimitation.

“If any delimitation exercise were undertaken in Manipur, there would be real disturbances in public order. And as such delimitation is not possible,” the Left leader said.

Tuesday’s meeting also decided that all political parties in Manipur would intervene in the ongoing legal proceedings in the Supreme Court to highlight the difficulties, like disturbances of public order and the prevailing conflict situation.

“Appropriate steps would be taken to carry out the order of the Supreme Court on delimitation,” Santa said.

The 16 political parties’ meeting follows a recent directive from the Supreme Court, which has instructed the completion of the pending delimitation exercise in the northeastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, and Assam within the next three months.

The leaders of 16 political parties attended Tuesday’s meeting: AAP, BSP, CPI-M, NPP, CPI, JD-U, Naga People’s Front, RPI-A, AIFB, Trinamool Congress, NCP, NCP (SP) SP, RSP, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) and Manipur People’s Party.

The absence of the BJP and the Congress, two of the state’s major political players, was noted with concern. However, the participating parties asserted their commitment to safeguarding the state’s stability and ensuring that the delimitation process does not further aggravate the fragile situation.

The meeting concluded with a call for unity among Manipur’s political parties in resisting the delimitation exercise until the conditions in the state normalise.

Meanwhile, Manipur BJP MLA Rajkumar Imo Singh on Monday urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to conduct a fair, transparent, and inclusive delimitation process in the state.

In a letter, he also urged the Union Home Minister to initiate the National Register of Citizens (NRC) process in the state and to remove all bogus voters from electoral rolls before the delimitation exercise begins.

The Manipur government, led by former Chief Minister Biren Singh, on a number of occasions, along with all organisations of the majority Meitei communities, have been demanding to initiate the NRC in the state to curb the illegal infiltration from the neighbouring countries, especially from Myanmar.

Imo Singh, in a letter to the Union Home Minister, urged a fair, transparent, and inclusive delimitation process in Manipur.

–IANS

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