Aizawl, May 3: A 12-hour bandh in Mizoram?s Mamit district ended peacefully today, though normal life was completely paralysed. The bandh was called in protest against the recommendations of the Delimitation Commission.

The 12-hour bandh was called in protest against the proposal to reduce the number of constituencies to three constituencies in the four-seat district. The bandh, which had envisioned blockwas declared successful, although flights operated on schedule.

Residents of Lengpui, where the airport is situated, reached a decision at 1 am not to observe the bandh in their village after an overnight meeting.

Normal life, however, was affected all over the district, including the district headquarters of Mamit. Shops, schools and government offices remained closed for the duration of the bandh, which was called off at noon today.

When asked whether residents of Mamit district were justified in their objections to the proposed realignment of Assembly constituencies within the district, Delimitation Commission member P. Rohmingthanga said ?these are unjustified? as the population could not even accommodate three constituencies, leave alone four.

According to delimitation norms, a state?s total population is divided by the total number of Assembly constituencies to determine the seats. According to this, each constituency should have a population of 22,214. Mamit district, with a population of just 62,785, can accommodate only 2.83 constituencies.

Rohmingthanga expressed his perplexity over the agitation by anti-delimitation groups, pointing out that the right forum to state objections would be the public hearing scheduled for Thursday