Guwahati, June 20/–/ The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday published the draft proposal for delimitation of Assembly and Parliamentary constituencies for Assam in accordance with the provisions of Section 8-A of the Representation of the People (RP) Act, 1950.
“Procedure for the delimitation process has been followed as laid down in the relevant laws – Section 8 A of the RP Act, 1950 read with Section 9 (1) (c) and (d) of the Delimitation Act, 2002 (33 of 2002) and Articles 82, 170, 330 and 332 of the Constitution of India. The last delimitation exercise in Assam was carried out in 1976,” a statement issued by ECI said.
All Assembly and Parliamentary constituencies in the state will be delimited on the basis of the 2001 census as provided in Article 170 and Article 82 of the Constitution.
The census figures of 2001, as published by the Census Commissioner, have thus alone been considered for the purpose.
“The number of seats in the Legislative Assembly and the House of People in Assam has been retained as 126 and 14 respectively. Articles 170 and 82 laid down that the number of seats in the Legislative Assembly of each state and the allocation of seats in the House of People to the states shall not be altered until the relevant figures for the first census taken after the year 2026 have been published,” the Commission said in the statement.
Nineteen seats in the Legislative Assembly have been proposed to be allocated for Scheduled Tribes out of 126 seats, while two seats have been proposed to be allocated for Scheduled Tribes out of 14 seats in the House of People allocated to Assam.
“Similarly, nine seats in the Legislative Assembly are proposed to be allocated for Scheduled Castes, while one seat is proposed to be allocated for Scheduled Castes in the House of People,” ECI said in the statement.
The draft proposal has been prepared based on administrative units such as development blocks, panchayats (VCDC in BTAD), villages in rural areas and Municipal Boards and wards in urban areas.
The Commission, comprising Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, along with Election Commissioners Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel, is slated to visit Assam next month for a public hearing on the draft proposal.
The Commission has invited suggestions and objections from stakeholders on the draft proposal till July 11, 2023.
Representations were received from 11 political parties and 71 organisations when the Commission had visited Assam in March this year.