Samiti demands dereservation of Sullia constituency

Sullia Vidhan Sabha Meesalati Mukti Andolana Samiti have demanded that the Sullia Assembly constituency be converted to a general constituency.

Speaking to reporters, Samiti president Pradeep Kumar K L said, "Sullia constituency has been reserved since 1952. According to Delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies Order, 1976, the 224 Assembly constituencies in the state had 33 SC, 2 ST reserved constituencies. In 2008, it was changed to 36 SC and 2 ST reserved constituencies. The reservation of Sullia Assembly constituency, however, has not been changed."

He said it was an irony that Sullia, which is having 21% of SC/ST, continued to be reserved when other constituencies in Dakshina Kannada have far more population of SC/ST. Belthangady and Bantwal, which are general constituencies, have SC/ST population of 27% and 22% respectively.

Pradeep Kumar also said that a consultation meeting to urge the authorities to change the reservation in the constituency will be held at Yuvajana Mandali auditorium at 3 pm on January 6.

The Samiti plans to hold a campaign and legal fight demanding de reservation of the constituency, he added.

"We will impress upon the gram panchayat, taluk panchayat, Zilla Panchayat, tahsildar, deputy committed, ministers, Governor, and president on the need for changing the reservation in the constituency. The Samiti members will carry out a signature campaign. We were also considering approaching the Election Commission and also the Supreme Court for the purpose," said Pradeep Kumar.