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‘EC overlooked SC, has lot to answer on delimitation’: Assam Cong MP Gaurav Gogoi
The ruling BJP government in Assam has welcomed the delimitation and stated that it would “protect the interests of the state’s indigenous populations”
Congress MP from Assam Gaurav Gogoi on Wednesday blamed the Election Commission (EC) for overlooking the Supreme Court, which asked for ‘specific clarification’, and ‘flaws’ in the recently released delimitation notification for 126 assembly and 14 Lok Sabha seats in the northeastern state.
Gogoi is the Congress MP from the Kaliabor seat.
The EC on August 11 released the final delimitation order for assembly and parliamentary constituencies in Assam in which it retained 126 assembly and 14 parliamentary seats based on the 2001 census and revised the names of 19 assembly segments and one Lok Sabha seat while reserving 19 assembly and two Lok Sabha seats for scheduled tribes (STs) and nine assembly and one Lok Sabha seats for scheduled castes (SCs).
“The EC has much to answer for the delimitation order. There is an ongoing case in the Supreme Court in which it had asked the EC for specific clarifications (on the delimitation draft issued earlier). Unfortunately, instead of giving those clarifications to SC and waiting for its final order in the case, the EC went ahead with the final delimitation order,” Gogoi said in Guwahati while speaking to media persons.
Gogoi accused the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre of “trying to undermine the Supreme Court by introducing a Bill in the Parliament” which seeks to exclude the Chief Justice of India (CJI) from the panel to appoint the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners (ECs) months after a Supreme Court constitution bench revamped the selection mechanism for their appointments.
The Bill was tabled in the Rajya Sabha on August 10.
“The move clearly shows that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wants to completely politicise the EC and to remove any influence of the Supreme Court (in selections of CEC and ECs). In the case of Assam delimitation, the way the EC has acted, it’s almost an insult to the Supreme Court,” Gogoi said as he questioned the rationale behind reorganising constituencies in Assam based on “population density”.
He added that the delimitation won’t affect the Congress or its partners of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) alliance adversely as there was a mood-building across the nation and in Assam for change.
The ruling BJP government in Assam has welcomed the delimitation and stated that it would “protect the interests of the state’s indigenous populations”.
“Delimitation of assembly and parliamentary seats in Assam has become a reality after the EC notification and there’s no point opposing it. Soon the President of India will give her assent to it,” Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Monday.
The Congress MP also roped in the Centre over the situation in Manipur and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “misleading the nation” about the present scenario in the violence-hit state.
PM Modi in his speech during the Independence Day celebration in Delhi said that the situation in Manipur has improved over the last few days even.
Speaking in Red Fort Modi said that reports of peace have come during the last few days in Manipur.
Slamming Modi’s speech, Gogoi said, “There can’t be peace or normalcy in Manipur as long as thousands of arms and ammunition (which were looted by mobs from police stations and government armouries in past months) loosely spread across the state.”
“These guns and ammunition would be trained on ordinary civilians and security force personnel. How can there be peace when no talks or process or reconciliation between the two groups (Meitei and Kuki) has happened till now?” he questioned.
Ethnic clashes between Meitei and tribal Kuki communities in Manipur, which started on May 3, have claimed nearly 160 lives, left over 300 injured and displaced over 50,000.
