The Election Commission of India (ECI) has decided to initiate the delimitation exercise of assembly and parliamentary constituencies in Assam as per section 8A of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, an official statement said. This was in pursuance to the request received from the Union Ministry of Law and Justice, the statement, released on Tuesday reads.
“The Commission led by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioners Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel has directed the Chief Electoral Officer of Assam to take up the matter with the state government to issue complete ban on creation of new administrative units w.e.f. January 1, 2023 till the completion of delimitation exercise in the State,” the statement says.
As mandated under Article 170 of the Constitution, census figures of 2001 will be used for the purpose of readjustment of parliamentary and assembly constituencies in the state. Reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes will be provided as per Articles 330 and 332 of the Constitution of India, the poll panel says.
“The Commission will design and finalise its own guidelines and methodology for the purpose of delimiting the constituencies. During the delimitation exercise, the Commission will keep in mind the physical features, existing boundaries of administrative units, facility of communication, public convenience and as far as practicable, the constituencies will be kept as geographically compact areas,” reads the statement.
Once a draft proposal for the delimitation of constituencies in Assam is finalised by the commission, it will be published in the central and state gazettes for inviting suggestions/objections from the general public.
In this regard, a notice will also be published in two vernacular newspapers of the state specifying the date and venue for public sittings to be held there.
The Election Commission of India was requested by the Ministry of Law and Justice to conduct the delimitation of parliamentary and assembly constituencies in Assam in a letter dated November 15, 2022.
Under the provisions of the Delimitation Act, 1972, the last delimitation of constituencies in Assam was done on the basis of census figures, 1971, by the then Delimitation Commission in 1976. The Assam assembly has 126 seats while the state sends 14 representatives to the Lok Sabha.
According to the ECI website, delimitation literally means the act or process of fixing limits or boundaries of territorial constituencies in a country or a province having a legislative body. In India, the job of delimitation is assigned to the Delimitation Commission or a Boundary Commission. Delimitation Commissions have been constituted four times – in 1952 under the Delimitation Commission Act, 1952, in 1963 under Delimitation Commission Act, 1962, in 1973 under Delimitation Act, 1972, and in 2002 under Delimitation Act, 2002.
“The Delimitation Commission in India is a high power body whose orders have the force of law and cannot be called in question before any court. These orders come into force on a date to be specified by the President of India on this behalf. The copies of its orders are laid before the House of the People and the State Legislative Assembly concerned, but no modifications are permissible therein by them,” the ECI says.
In the 2002 exercise, Assam, along with Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, and Nagaland, was left out after a PIL was filed in the Gauhati High Court challenging the use of the 2001 Census for reference. In February 2020, then President Ram Nath Kovind paved the way for the delimitation exercise in Assam, rescinding the February 8, 2008 order.
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