New Delhi:
The number of reserved seats for scheduled castes and tribes in the state assembly and parliamentary constituencies in Assam needs to be increased, the Election Commission of India said in a draft proposal released on Tuesday.
The number of assembly seats reserved for scheduled castes should be increased to nine from eight, and for scheduled tribes to 19 from 16, the poll overseer said in a statement. For the Lok Sabha, it suggested reserving two seats for scheduled tribes and one seat for scheduled castes. The total number of assembly and parliamentary seats would remain unchanged at 126 and 14, respectively, it said.
The commission said efforts have been made to ensure that all constituencies are kept as compact as possible during the delimitation exercise. Several factors have been taken into account, including physical features, population density, existing administrative boundaries, communication facilities and public convenience, it said. Delimitation implies redrawing of boundaries of assembly and parliamentary constituencies.
In certain cases, deviations from state and district averages have been allowed due to significant variations between districts in terms of geographical features, population density, means of communication, public convenience, contiguity of areas and the need to avoid disrupting administrative units, the election watchdog said.
{{/usCountry}}In certain cases, deviations from state and district averages have been allowed due to significant variations between districts in terms of geographical features, population density, means of communication, public convenience, contiguity of areas and the need to avoid disrupting administrative units, the election watchdog said.
{{/usCountry}}“It is important to note that constituencies cannot always have exactly equal populations. In the state of Assam, there has been a significant increase in the number of districts, from 10 to 31, since the last delimitation in 1976. Similarly, there have been substantial changes in the number of administrative units at the Development Block and Gram Panchayat levels,” it said.
The commission suggested increasing the number of assembly seats in the autonomous district of West Karbi Anglong by one and in the Bodoland autonomous council areas by three, resulting in a change from 16 to 19 seats.
The Diphu and Kokrajhar parliamentary seats, reserved for scheduled tribes, will be retained, while the Lakhimpur Parliamentary seat will remain unreserved, it suggested.
There will be one unreserved assembly seat in Dhemaji district, and two parliamentary seats are suggested for the Barak Valley districts. A parliamentary seat has been named Kaziranga.
The Election Commission has invited feedback on the proposal till July 11. It plans to visit Assam in July for a public hearing, taking into account the suggestions and objections.
The commission visited Assam from March 26-28, when it engaged with political parties, public representatives, civil society members, social organizations and state officials, including the chief electoral officer, deputy commissioners and district election officers.
The opposition Congress criticised the proposal. “The delimitation process is a political move to benefit the ruling BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and the 2026 assembly polls in Assam,” said Congress MLA Debabrata Saikia, leader of the opposition in the assembly. “We will study the details of the draft proposal and submit our objections to the Election Commission.”
The Bharatiya Janata Party said it will comment on the proposal after reading the order. “We can’t comment on the draft proposal without studying what the details are,” said BJP leader and Assam parliamentary affairs minister Pijush Hazarika.