In the most peaceful of provinces, redrawing electoral constituencies is a thorny process, given its links to representation, proportional weightage, and future electoral outcomes. Therefore, it should not surprise anyone that the announcement by the Election Commission of India on delimitation in Assam has stoked simmering anxieties around demographic changes and proportional represen-tation. In a state with a long and turbulent history of activism and violence around indigeneity, there is already significant tension around the National Register of Citizens, with
In the most peaceful of provinces, redrawing electoral constituencies is a thorny process, given its links to representation, proportional weightage, and future electoral outcomes. Therefore, it should not surprise anyone that the announcement by the Election Commission of India on delimitation in Assam has stoked simmering anxieties around demographic changes and proportional represen-tation. In a state with a long and turbulent history of activism and violence around indigeneity, there is already significant tension around the National Register of Citizens, with the state government opposing the final registry issued in August 2019 and a Comptroller and Auditor General report flagging anomalies. Into this melee has now been added the fractious process of delimitation. Over the weekend, two developments added to the controversy. The first was Assam’s decision to merge four districts with their parent provinces ahead of the January 1 cut-off, and the second was chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s pronouncement that population should not be the only basis for delimitation. Opposition alleges the process might be weighed against the electoral influence of some communities seen as outsiders by Assam’s political establishment.
There is no doubt that delimitation will always be contentious. But the panel would do well to hold wide-ranging consultations, make its processes and guidelines clear, and allay apprehensions. The exercise in Jammu and Kashmir, and now in Assam, will also give us a glimpse of what kind of churn is in store as the country approaches its 2026 delimitation cut-off with no sign yet of the delayed 2021 Census starting.
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