Date:11/05/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/05/11/stories/2006051113070400.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

`Retain Kodagu Assembly seats'

Staff Reporter

Leaders appeal to delimitation panel not to abolish Somwarpet constituency

Leaders say there is no response to representations

A bandh will be observed in Kodagu district on Thursday

Bangalore: Three legislators from Kodagu and other leaders have urged the Delimitation Commission to maintain status quo with regard to the number of Legislative Assembly seats in the district, and retain the Madikeri, Virajpet and Somwarpet constituencies. They have said that any attempt to reduce the number of constituencies to two by abolishing the Somwarpet seat, as proposed in the draft proposals on delimitation, will not be in the interest of the people.

Addressing presspersons on Tuesday, K.G. Bopaiah and H.D. Basavaraj, MLAs; C.S. Arun Machaiah, MLC; Appachu Ranjan, former MLA; Medappa, president of the Kodagu district unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party, and H.S. Ashok, president of the Kodagu Zilla Panchayat, expressed their concern over "injustice being done to the people of the district". Kodagu, which had been a Part `C' State before 1956, with a 24-member Assembly of its own, had one member each in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, and it should be allowed to be represented by three MLAs, one for each taluk, the leaders said.

A daylong bandh will be observed in the district on Thursday when the consultative committee of the commission meets in New Delhi to discuss the reaction to the draft proposals on delimitation.