The Election Commission of India (ECI) may have issued the final delimitation notification of constituencies in Assam, but the exercise continues to remain contentious, with complaints ranging from the slashing of seats for minorities to sitting legislators bemoaning the loss of their constituencies. On August 11, the ECI published the final delimitation order for Assam’s parliamentary and Assembly constituencies, an exercise that is being carried out in the state for the first time since 1976. When the ECI had published the draft delimitation report in June, objections had poured in from several quarters with the Commission receiving a total of 1,222 representations in the form of suggestions and objections. The ECI, while publishing the final order, said it had addressed 45% of these, while the rest were beyond statutory or constitutional provisions, or were “not found feasible to accommodate”. Badruddin Ajmal, the chief of the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) – which has its primary support base among Muslims of the Bengali origin – declared that the party would approach the Supreme Court against the ECI's delimitation order, saying it had reduced “Muslim seats by 10-11”. The reduction in the number of seats where minority voters have a decisive role to play, had also been flagged by the party when the EC had published the draft report in June. Rejaul Karim Sarkar, president of the All Assam Minority Students’ Union (AAMSU), also said that the submission his organisation had made expressing similar concerns, had not been addressed. He added that variations in population sizes across constituencies reinforced his allegation. He claimed that while currently about 30 Muslim legislators are voted to the 126-member Assembly, the new delimitation will reduce this to around 20. The districts where seats have been reduced in the final order are South Salmara, Barpeta (two seats less), Darrang, Nagaon, Dibrugarh, Sibsagar, Jorhat, Hailakandi and Karimganj. Of these, South Salmara, Barpeta, Darrang, Nagaon, Hailakandi and Karimganj are Muslim-majority districts. “Muslims have been lumped together in constituencies with huge numbers of voters. The exercise has not been done in line with population patterns. For instance, going by its population, Darrang district should have had four Assembly constituencies, but that has been reduced to three. Within that, Sipajhar and Mangaldai constituencies have around 2 lakh voters, while the minority voters have been lumped together in Dalgaon constituency, which has over 3 lakh voters now… It is a communal policy and not good for the people of Assam to say 'Muslims stay here, Hindus stay here',” Sarkar said. Assam Congress leader Debabrata Saikia also said that the variations adopted by the ECI in its calculations have resulted in disparities. In addition, he said there are geographical inconsistencies. “Because disparate areas have been clubbed together in the Dhubri Lok Sabha constituency (which is minority dominated), the distance between some places within it, as the crow flies, is over 150 km… Within my constituency of Nazira, a panchayat area with at least 50% Muslims has been removed and given to Sivasagar, even though it is surrounded by the Nazira constituency on all sides,” he said. While the population variations in constituencies has been highlighted by stakeholders such as the AIUDF and AAMSU, which represent Bengali Muslims, it has also been flagged by parties that claim to champion the cause of the “indigenous Assamese”, such as Raijor Dal. Among the disparities it has flagged is between Gossaigaon, which has 1,56,068 voters, and the Muslim-dominated Gauripur and Mankachar constituencies with over 3 lakh voters each. At the same time, the removal of some constituencies during the redrawing process has also caused a stir in Upper Assam, considered the “Assamese heartland”, and even within the BJP’s ally Asom Gana Parishad (AGP). AGP MLA Pradip Hazarika resigned from his posts in the party, after his constituency, Amguri, was removed. Sivasagar district, where the seat was located, saw protests over the weekend. AGP Minister Atul Bora said he “did not understand why” Hazarika resigned from his party positions. “The party had formed a committee… All the views taken had been conveyed to the ECI. Of these, the ECI addressed some and did not address others. It’s true that he has been representing Amguri for many years… But this was not done from the party’s side. Neither the party, nor the Assam government was the decision-maker. That was the ECI alone,” he said. Another region that had seen discontent after the draft was published was the Bengali-dominated Barak Valley, where the number of Assembly seats has been reduced from 15 to 13. Local leaders had mobilised protests in the region and made their submissions to the ECI, but the final order is along the lines of the draft.
