West Bengal: Govt likely to amend laws, let Bangla enclave dwellers vote

The Centre is likely to amend two electoral laws and allow the Election Commission to carry out a limited delimitation exercise in West Bengal to ensure voting rights to the people who came to live in the country following exchange of enclaves between India and Bangladesh. The term of the 294-member West Bengal Assembly ends on May 29 and the elections are likely to be held before that.

According to sources, a bill to amend the Delimitation Act of 2002 and Representation of the People Act, 1950, could be brought in the Budget Session, beginning February 23. Union home minister Rajnath Singh will hold a meeting on Monday with senior officials, including the law ministry’s legislative department — which administers the two laws, where a final call on the issue could be taken.

Sources said that at a recent meeting between officials of the law ministry and the Election Commission the poll body made it clear that it was necessary to grant voting rights to these people ahead of the Assembly elections in the state. Following delimitation, these people will be made voters of Assembly and parliamentary constituency.

India and Bangladesh had exchanged 162 adversely-held enclaves on the midnight of July 31 last. There were 111 Indian enclaves in Bangladesh and 51 Bangladeshi enclaves in India which were exchanged pursuant to the 1974 Land Boundary Agreement and 2011 Protocol and instruments of ratification, which were exchanged during PM Modi’s visit to Bangladesh on June 6-7, 2015. Other than the 14,000 people of the 51 enclaves that became part of India, about 921 who came from Bangladesh have also become Indian citizens.

On an earlier occasion, EC was granted special, limited powers of delimitation in 2013 when the then UPA government had brought an ordinance to allow the poll watchdog carry out such an exercise in SC/ST constituencies. The Readjustment of Representation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies Ordinance 2013 was promulgated to bring a 2012 Supreme Court judgement into effect.