On July 16, the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) filed a case in the Supreme Court of India against the draft delimitation proposal for Assembly and Parliamentary seats in the state of Assam. Aminul Islam, the organizational general secretary and MLA of AIUDF addressed a press conference and expressed concerns about the process.
According to Aminul Islam, the Election Commission of India (ECI) conducted the delimitation exercise instead of a Delimitation Commission due to amendments made in relevant Acts in 2008 by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. According to him, these amendments granted the delimitation power to the ECI. He further claimed that the ECI now has the authority to establish its own guidelines and carry out delimitation without being accountable to anyone.
Aminul Islam argued that since Independence, delimitation has been exclusively carried out by the Delimitation Commission and not by the ECI. Therefore, AIUDF is challenging the amendments that transferred delimitation powers to the ECI and is advocating for the continuation of the process under the Delimitation Commission’s purview.
Based on the information available on the Supreme Court’s e-court services, the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) has submitted a writ petition (Diary No. 28014/2023) against the Government of India. Aminul Islam, a member of AIUDF, claims that the draft delimitation proposal has been specifically created to favor the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in the upcoming elections in Assam.
Islam alleges that a Cabinet Sub-Committee of the Assam government submitted a proposal and guidelines to the Chief Electoral Officer of the state, who subsequently forwarded them to the Election Commission of India (ECI). Islam states that the ECI then published these proposals as the draft delimitation document.
He questions the need for the delimitation exercise in Assam at this time, as a nationwide delimitation is scheduled for 2026. He also expresses concerns about using the 2001 census data for the current draft proposal and states that they do not accept it.
In addition, Islam accuses the ECI draft of reducing the number of minority Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) in the Assam Assembly from 31 to 20-22.
Previously, on June 20, the ECI issued the draft delimitation document, maintaining the number of Assembly seats in Assam at 126 and Lok Sabha constituencies at 14. The state currently has seven Rajya Sabha seats.
According to the draft, the number of Assembly seats reserved for Scheduled Castes has increased from eight to nine, while the seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes have increased from 16 to 19. In terms of Parliamentary constituencies, the draft proposes two seats for Scheduled Tribes (ST) and one seat for Scheduled Castes (SC).
Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioners Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel are scheduled to visit Assam to conduct a three-day public hearing starting from July 19 to gather feedback and opinions on the draft proposal for delimitation.
In a previous visit on March 26-28, an Election Commission of India (ECI) team had engaged with various stakeholders, including political parties, public representatives, civil society members, social organizations, and the general public in Assam, to discuss the delimitation exercise. During that visit, the ECI received and considered representations from 11 political parties and 71 other organizations. The upcoming public hearing will further provide an opportunity for individuals and groups to express their views and concerns regarding the draft proposal.
