GUWAHATI: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has stirred a hornet’s nest with its draft proposals for the realignment of Lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies in Assam.
The opposition parties criticised the Commission for allegedly favouring the ruling BJP.
The Commission published the draft proposals on Tuesday based on 2001 Census figures. It kept the number of constituencies unchanged but increased the number of Assembly seats reserved for Schedule Tribes (ST) and Scheduled Castes (SC). The seats increased from 16 to 19 for STs and eight to nine for SCs. The state has 126 Assembly and 14 Parliamentary seats respectively.
Assam Congress chief Bhupen Kumar Borah suspected a conspiracy behind the publication of the draft proposals as the Supreme Court is hearing the matter.
“The final date of hearing on the delimitation exercise in the Supreme Court has been fixed on July 25. We are surprised that the EC did not wait for the court’s judgement,” Borah said.
“We suspect that the EC is favouring the BJP,” he further said.
Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi tweeted, “Not surprised to find that the draft delimitation list…has dismembered my Lok Sabha seat Kaliabor. The list has several errors and faults. With less than a year left for the polls, the motive is plain. But nothing can stop the winds of change.”
The minority-based party All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) sniffed that the EC was in league with the BJP and the Congress.
AIUDF chief and Lok Sabha member Maulana Badruddin Ajmal was critical of the Commission for basing delimitation on the 2001 Census.
Pointing out that the last delimitation in Assam in 1976 was based on the 1971 Census, he said the current exercise could have been carried out in 2026 along with the rest of the country based on the 2011 Census.
He alleged the EC’s proposals for the realignment of the Assembly seats were politically-motivated, aimed at reducing the number of Muslim-majority constituencies. The Commission proposed changes in the names of some constituencies as well as their geographical boundaries.
The smaller regional parties also slammed the EC. The Raijor Dal dubbed the proposals BJP-centric while the Assam Jatiya Parishad felt the 2001 Census-based process would deprive the indigenous communities.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was “saddened” that his Jalukbari constituency has been trifurcated but he welcomed the draft proposals stating they reflected people’s sentiments.