Election Commission completes public hearings on Assam draft delimitation proposal

While the Election Commission of India completed the public hearings on the draft delimitation proposal on Friday, ten political parties from Assam filed a writ petition challenging the delimitation exercise in the Supreme Court.

A writ petition challenging Section 8A of Representation of People Act and proceedings conducted by ECI was jointly filed by 10 leaders of various political parties of Assam including Congress.

These parties submitted that the Election Commission, instead of a retired Supreme Court judge, is conducting delimitation but the manner in which the proceedings are conducted are manifestly arbitrary for various reasons. It was further informed that while the Supreme Court is to consider a similar issue on July 25 in an earlier petition, the Election Commission has advanced the dates of public sittings and is rushing to finalise the process before the said date.


These parties stated that the Chief Justice agreed to consider the fresh petition on July 24 and had also advanced the date of the earlier petition which was previously listed on July 25. Earlier regional party Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) has filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court of India seeking stay on the
constituency delimitation process. All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) had also filed a case in the Supreme Court against the draft delimitation proposal of Assembly and Parliamentary Constituencies in Assam.

The Election Commission of India held public hearings on the draft delimitation proposal for Assam from July 19-21.

The Commission comprising Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioners Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel held hearings from representatives of political parties, civil society organisations and members of public on the draft Delimitation proposal during the last three days.

During the last three days, the Commission heard over 1200 representations from 31 districts and held meetings with over 20 political parties. In total, more than 6000 persons participated in the public hearings over the last three days. In marathon seating, on July 20, hearings lasted more than 20 hours, cumulatively, as the three Commissioners conducted parallel hearings at 3 venues. Similar was for July 19 and July 21. The screening of the gist of the 1000 odd representations received prior to the sittings, facilitated an on-the-spot confirmation of vital facts and identity of the stakeholder participation in this important exercise.

Representatives from National Parties - Aam Aadmi Party, Indian National Congress, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Bharatiya Janata Party; State Parties - All India United Democratic Front, Asom Gana Parishad, United Peoples Party Liberal and Bodoland People’s Front shared their feedback and suggestions before the Commission.

United Opposition Forum Assam (Assam Pradesh Congress, Assam Jatiya Parishad, CPM, Raijor Dal, CPI, Jatiya Dal Assam, NCP, RJD, Janata Dal (U), TMC, CPI(ML) & Others) and several Registered Unrecognized Political Parties (RUPPs) also participated.

The commission stated that the increase of SC Assembly seats from 8 to 9 and ST Assembly seats from 16-19 was widely welcomed by different organizations. Several organizations also welcomed the draft proposal based on Census 2001 and were largely satisfied with the draft delimitation proposal.

The people and organizations from four Bodoland districts and three Autonomous Hill Council districts welcomed the proposal. However, there was a demand for further increase of Assembly seats in Dima Hasao, West Karbi Anglong and Karbi Anglong districts owing to the large hilly geographical area and the sparsely populated inhabitations. The people from Bodoland Territorial Area also demanded creation of one more ST Parliamentary seat for Udalguri and Baksa districts. If not, at least the name of Darang PC to be changed to Udalguri.

A few representations from Barak Valley welcomed de-reserving the Parliamentary Constituency of Karimganj. However, several representatives from Barak Valley demanded that Assembly seats in the valley should be restored from 13 to 15. While welcoming the draft proposal, many organizations requested for change of nomenclature of some Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies, highlighting the historical, cultural, political, and ethnic significance of the region. Many persons from Sibsagar district submitted representations for restoration of Amguri AC in their district citing the historical and political significance of the place.

In many cases where the representations brought to the notice of the Commission, some issues related to natural barriers like rivers, etc., the Commission gave on-the-spot directions to the respective District Magistrates seeking factual details with proper maps, so that a considerate view can be taken on the issues raised. United Opposition Forum Assam apprised the Commission that they had filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the draft delimitation proposal and the matter is listed in the Supreme Court for hearing.