Explained | Assam delimitation — What is it and why are some opposing it?

The EC's draft retained the number of assembly constituencies in Assam at 126 and Lok Sabha seats at 14. However, in the final order, the Commission revised the existing nomenclature of 19 assembly constituencies and one parliamentary constituency.

The order also proposed to rename some assembly constituencies and parliamentary constituencies. "One Parliamentary and some assembly constituencies gets paired names such as, Darrang-Udalgiri, Hajo- Sualkuchi, Boko-Chaygaon, Nagaon-Batadraba, Bhowanipur-Sorbhog, Algapur-Katlichera, in view of the demand from members of the public," the press release said.

> Lowest administrative unit has been taken as ‘Village’ in rural areas and ‘Ward’ in urban areas. Accordingly, village and ward have been kept intact and have not been broken anywhere in the state.

> Assembly seats reserved for the Scheduled Caste have increased from eight to nine

> Assembly seats reserved for the Scheduled Tribe have increased from 16 to 19

> Increase of one assembly seat in Autonomous districts in West Karbi Anglong District

> Increase of assembly constituencies in Bodoland districts from 11 to 15

> Retaining Diphu and Kokrajhar Parliamentary seats reserved for ST

> Continuing Lakhimpur Parliamentary seat as unreserved

> One unreserved assembly constituency in Dhemaji district

> One Parliamentary seat namely 'Diphu' reserved for ST which comprises six assembly constituencies of three Autonomous districts

> Two Parliamentary seats given to the Barak Valley districts i.e., Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj districts

> One Parliamentary seat named as ‘Kaziranga’, while one Assembly Constituency named as ‘Manas’

Meanwhile, on December 31, 2022, the Assam Cabinet decided to merge four districts with the ones from which they were carved out and made separate districts. Biswanath was merged with Sonitpur, Hojai with Nagaon, Tamulpur with Baksa and Bajali with Barpeta.

This was done in accordance with the Election Commission's order on delimitation, mandating that the Assam government makes no changes in any districts or administrative units from January 1, 2023, as the state will begin its delimitation process, NDTV had reported earlier. Sarma was then quoted as saying that this was a temporary measure for the delimitation process.

After the merger, the total number of district will come down from 35 to 31.

After hoisting the National Flag on the occasion of 77th Independence Day on Tuesday, Sarma said the Assam government will create 'upa-jila' (sub-districts) in all assembly constituencies for public convenience within a month. He said his government will take a decision regarding the districts abolished just before the delimitation exercise in two months.

"We have accepted the delimitation as reality. To take the constituency reorganisation to a logical conclusion, many things are to be done in the near future," he was quoted by news agency PTI as saying. "The state government will start a series of administrative reforms within the next one month," he added.

He explained that all the existing sub-divisions will cease to exist. "Except for the district headquarters, we will form one 'upa-jila' (sub-district) in every constituency with all the infrastructure. An additional deputy commissioner will head it," Sarma said.

The chief minister said on Tuesday that he hoped this administrative reform will end many problems, including agitations for new sub-divisions and districts. "The new system will be done for public convenience and there will be hardly any need for the people to visit the district headquarters for government services," he said.

"Regarding the districts that were eliminated before the delimitation, a correct decision will be taken in the next two months," Sarma said.

Opposition parties had protested the move while accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of trying to alter Muslim-majority seats in Assam for their advantage. However, the BJP denied these allegations, claiming they are aimed at creating confusion, NDTV reported.

It is alleged that the delimitation process would benefit only one party, the BJP — while being "damaging to other opposition parties".

An Indian Express report quoted the chief of the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) as saying that the Election Commission's delimitation order reduced "Muslim seats by 10-11". The party even warned that it would approach the Supreme Court against the order.

Expressing similar concerns, Rejaul Karim Sarkar, president of the All Assam Minority Students’ Union (AAMSU), was quoted as claiming that while currently about 30 Muslim legislators are voted to the 126-member assembly, the new delimitation will reduce this to around 20.

According to the Indian Express report, these are the districts where seats have been reduced in the final order: South Salmara, Barpeta (two seats less), Darrang, Nagaon, Dibrugarh, Sibsagar, Jorhat, Hailakandi and Karimganj. Of these, South Salmara, Barpeta, Darrang, Nagaon, Hailakandi and Karimganj are Muslim-majority districts.

Explaining the issue, Sarkar said that as per its population, the Darrang district should have had four assembly constituencies. However, it has been reduced to three, he added.

While Sarma and other BJP leaders have been positive that the delimitation would give representation to some indigenous communities, Assam Congress leader Debabrata Saikia said the "variations adopted by the ECI in its calculations have resulted in disparities".

Saikia was among the 10 opposition leaders from Assam who approached the Supreme Court challenging the recent draft proposal of the Election Commission for the delimitation of Assam.

"Within my constituency of Nazira, a panchayat area with at least 50 percent Muslims has been removed and given to Sivasagar, even though it is surrounded by the Nazira constituency on all sides,” he was quoted as saying.

The use of data from the 2001 Census, and not the more recent 2011 Census, is another bone of contention. As per the 2011 Census, the population of Muslims in Assam has increased by 3.3 percent - the highest growth in the country.

Earlier, the petition filed by opposition leaders from Assam in the Supreme Court had challenged the methodology adopted by the ECI by taking different average assembly sizes for different districts and argued that population density or populous-ness has no role to play in the process of delimitation, news agency ANI reported.

“While the Constitution of India envisages an exercise whereby Constituencies are to be readjusted so as to ensure that all constituencies are comprised of an almost equal population, by relying on 2001 census figures, the Election Commission has created three categories of districts and has taken different yardstick for the three categories resulting in possible deviation of up to 33 percent between the population of the largest and smallest constituency,” the petition stated.

Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said on Wednesday the BJP is mistaken if its members thinks that the new delimitation of Assam will help them in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

"If you look at the delimitation of Assam, it is targeting of the Opposition seats. Lok Sabha seats occupied by the Congress party in Kaliabor, Nagaon and Barpeta have been especially targetted by the BJP. AIUDF has benefitted. So, it exposes the nexus between AIUDF and BJP....The mood is for INDIA alliance...In the 2024 elections, across India and across Assam, the INDIA alliance and Congress party will do especially well," he added.