New Delhi, Sept. 28: Mizoram has moved the Centre to increase the size of its Assembly from the current strength of 40 to 60. The aim is to ensure adequate representation to the million-strong population of the hill state.

An all-party delegation led by chief minister Zoramthanga today called on Union home minister Shivraj Patil to explain the rationale behind the plea for an enlarged House.

?We explained the need for augmenting the Assembly?s strength. Patil said he would look into the demand and discuss it with his colleagues,? the chief minister said after the 30-minute-long meeting in North Block.

The visit by the all-party delegation has come after non-government and social organisations exerted pressure on the government to take up the cause with Delhi. The decision to meet Patil was taken by all the parties collectively in Aizawl a few days ago.

Mizoram?s demand marks the second instance of a northeastern state approaching the Centre to increase the size of its Assembly. Sikkim raised a similar demand a few months ago when it made a case for a 40-member House. Its current strength is 32, the lowest among all the states in the region, with 12 seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes.

At the meeting today, Zoramthanga was accompanied by the state?s Lok Sabha MP Vanlalzawma. The others were H. Lian Sailova, Andrew Lalherliana and Saia Sailo from the Congress, the Zoram Nationalist Party and the Mizoram People?s Convention.

A House of 60 appears to be the norm for the Northeast, with as many as five states having Assemblies which boast of that number. This is despite the fact that these states ? Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura ? do not have a uniform distribution of population.

While Arunachal Pradesh has about 1.1 million, Tripura?s population is 3.3 million.