Collection of data and maps begins for Assam delimitation

On the eve of the deadline, the Assam Cabinet decided to re-merge four districts into the districts they were carved out from in the recent past. The mergers will bring down the count of districts in Assam from 35 to 31. Assam currently has 14 Lok Sabha and 126 Assembly constituencies.

According to an official, the Assam CEO had been asked by the EC to submit the data and maps required for the redrawing of boundaries. The CEO had, in turn, asked district officials to submit the details. Another official said no date had been given to the CEO to submit the details.

The delimitation will be done on the basis of the 2001 Census, as mandated by Article 170 of the Constitution. The delimitation of Assembly and Parliamentary constituencies in Assam was last conducted in 1976. While the last round of delimitation was done for the country starting in 2002, the exercise was suspended for Assam due to security concerns and demands that it should not be done till the National Register of Citizens was finalised.

In March 2020, the Centre notified a Delimitation Commission for Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland. A year later, the Centre extended the term of the Delimitation Commission by a year, but excluded the Northeastern states from its mandate.

In May last year, the Delimitation Commission finalised its order for Jammu and Kashmir, recommending seven additional constituencies — six for Jammu and one for Kashmir — taking the total number of seats in the Union Territory to 90 from 83 earlier.