GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday said the upcoming exercise for delimiting Assembly and Parliamentary constituencies would help safeguard the state’s future for at least two decades.
"The notification issued by the year-end for delimitation is a breakthrough for Assam. We were unsuccessful in NRC (National Register of Citizens). We did not get a desired result through the Assam Accord. But through delimitation, we will be able to safeguard Assam’s future for at least two decades," Sarma told journalists.
At the same time, he said delimitation will be a "data-based" and "non-political" exercise. According to an Act of the Parliament, delimitation has to be done based on the Census of 2001. This is the mandate of the Act, he said.
"The policy of delimiting constituencies is based on population. The central government told us to control the population. Some people controlled it but some did not. So, should the population be the basis of delimitation? By this, you are actually giving premium to those who violated the (population) policy and punishing those who abided by it," the CM said.
"When the next delimitation exercise will take place, the Parliament will definitely debate whether areas which did not abide by the policy of population control should be punished or rewarded. I feel this is a matter of national debate. In my view, the population should not be a criterion in delimiting constituencies. There should be other criteria as well," Sarma insisted.
Asked if there is a population explosion in Assam, he said it could be known after the Census of 2021.
Ahead of delimitation, the state government had on Saturday remerged four new districts with those which were bifurcated to create them. A government notification had said the decision was made for "administrative expediency and in the interest of public service."
Sarma had said, "This decision is not permanent. This is for a transition phase for administrative reasons and in the interest of Assam keeping in mind its future."
But the opposition parties opposed it.
The Congress had said the CM demonstrated his "dictatorial" attitude. The party promised to restore the district status to the four places if voted to power in 2026. The Assam Jatiya Parishad had accused the state government of deceiving people. The party said the BJP government had created the four districts for votes.
On Tuesday, the Election Commission had announced its decision to initiate the delimitation exercise in Assam. The 2001 Census figures will be used for the purpose of readjustment of the constituencies.