The Opposition parties and civil society groups in Assam termed the notification for delimitation of constituencies in the northeastern states including Assam, as “untimely”.
They believed that with the update of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) yet to be completed, such an exercise in the state would create complications.
The government on Friday cancelled its notifications deferring delimitation in Assam, Nagaland, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh due to security issues, saying the exercise could be carried out “now” as the previous circumstances have ceased to exist. It said the President is satisfied with the situation in these states.
In Assam, delimitation was stalled more than a decade ago after the erstwhile Congress government and civil society groups opposed the process asking the Centre to differ the delimitation process in the state until the NRC is updated.
Delimitation is the process of determining the boundaries of territorial constituencies to represent the change in population and to provide equal representation to different segments of a population.
Leader of the Opposition in the Assam Assembly, Debabrata Saikia, told The Telegraph, “Is the state’s situation different today? The NRC completion is still pending and the fate of those who were left out is still ‘unknown’. The future of lakhs of people who might be detected as foreigners is at stake and delimitation of constituencies will create more complications. It’s untimely. So we want the Centre to exempt the state from the process.”
In 2007, when the Centre had initiated delimitation in Assam, an all-party delegation from Assam had pleaded before the then Union home minister Shivraj Patil, saying that the exercise cannot be executed in a “just and proper” manner in the state until the NRC was updated and insurgency brought under control.
In 2008, the Election Commission had notified that the exercise would remain postponed till “such time as the NRC is updated to reflect the true population configuration in the state”.
The Prabajan Virodhi Manch (PVM), an anti-influx group of the state led by Supreme Court lawyer Upamanyu Hazarika, added that the state was in “no condition” currently to bear the burden of delimitation process.
Hazarika said, “The basis for this exercise is deeply flawed. The law and order situation in Assam is very volatile with the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) movement in full swing, coupled with the agitation by the non-Bodos in the Bodo-belt areas.”
“While the state government itself has demanded a re-verification of NRC, initiating a delimitation exercise has only exposed the state government’s duplicity. A correct re-verification of NRC will exclude a large number of foreigners and give the correct picture of the number of citizens/voters per constituency and it is only after this that de-limitation should be carried out,” Hazarika added.
The All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) has already called for a party meeting to discuss the issue of delimitation. AIUDF general secretary Aminul Islam said, “It’s a matter of huge concern and the ruling party may take advantage of the process ahead of the 2021 state polls. We are discussing the matter.”
BJP spokesperson Rupam Goswami said, “It’s a constitutional provision. With the delimitation process, the government just wants to ensure that each constituency and people living in them receive equal benefits of all government works.”
The Opposition party believed that the entire exercise is being undertaken targeting the 2021 elections.