SHIFTING THE LINES

From the very first day of 2023, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has initiated the delimitation of assembly and parliamentary constituencies in Assam.

- Kaushik Deka

The exercise, as mandated by Article 170 of the Constitution and the Representation of the People Act (RPA), 1950, redraws boundaries of legislative constituencies to reflect changes in population. It also reworks the number of seats reserved for scheduled castes and tribes, as provisioned by Articles 330 and 332 of the Constitution. The objective is to provide fair representation to all.

While Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has claimed that the delimitation process would “safeguard Assam’s future”, Opposition parties have questioned the timing and intent of the exercise. Some have even dubbed it as a conspiracy to deny Muslims their political rights, as the ECI will use 2001 Census data for delimitation, though 2011 Census data is available. The Muslim population in Assam grew from 29 per cent in 2001 to 34 per cent in 2011. Government sources say that the current delimitation is being done under the Delimitation Act of 2002, which mandates 2001 Census data as the base for constituency demarcation.

As per the Constitution, delimitation should be conducted after every Census to account for demographic changes. It mandates that the number of Lok Sabha seats allotted to a state should be such that the ratio between that number and the state’s population is, as far as practical, the same for all states. Accordingly, there have been four previous delimitations, the last being in 1976 (based on 1971 Census).