Consider the following statements: 1. According to the Representation of People's Act (RPA) 1950, Parliament can order delimitation exercises to be carried out in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur and Nagaland. 2. In 2021, the Delimitation exercise was carried out in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur and Nagaland. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

The correct answer is Neither 1 nor 2. In News The Supreme Court issued notices to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Law and Justice, and Chief Election Commissioner on a plea seeking direction to conduct delimitation exercise in four northeastern states. Key Points Delimitation: Delimitation is the act of redrawing boundaries of Lok Sabha and Assembly seats to represent changes in population. It provides equal representation for equal population segments , and a fair division of geographical areas so that no political party has an advantage. Delimitation Commission’s orders cannot be questioned before any court. It is done on basis of the preceding Census. As per Section 8A of the Representation of People's Act (RPA) 1950 , the President can order delimitation exercises to be carried out in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur and Nagaland. Hence, statement 1 is not correct. Delimitation exercise has not been carried out for the last 51 years in these states. Hence, statement 2 is not correct. The last delimitation exercise (2002-08), kept out these NES due to apprehensions over the use of the 2001 Census. Also, the Presidential Order of 2020, which allowed for conducting delimitation exercises in these 4 states as well, was restricted to Jammu and Kashmir only.