Assam’s Delimitation Draft
Source : Hindustan Times
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Overview
- What is delimitation and its procedure?
- Delimitation Proposal for Assam
Why in News ?
Recently, the Election Commission (EC) released a draft proposal on the delimitation of the Assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam.
What is delimitation and its procedure?
- Delimitation: In order to guarantee that each seat has about equal numbers of voters, the Lok Sabha and State Assembly seats are redrawn through the delimitation process in light of a recent Census.
- An impartial Delimitation Commission established in accordance with the Delimitation Commission Act should do it on an annual basis following a Census.
- Goal: Its goal is to ensure that no political party has an advantage by offering equal representation for equal demographic groupings.
- Procedure: Section 8 A of the R. P. Act of 1950 read with Sections 9(1)(c) and (d) of the Delimitation Act of 2002 (33 of 2002), as well as Articles 82, 170, 330, and 332 of the COI, all set down the procedure for the delimitation process.
Delimitation Proposal for Assam
- Articles: According to Articles 170 and 82 of the Constitution, all Assembly and Parliamentary Constituencies in the State must be
drawn on the basis of the 2001 Census. - Thus, only the 2001 census data issued by the Census Commissioner has been taken into account for this.
- The last delimitation exercise in Assam took place nearly five decades ago in 1976.
- Seats: In the State of Assam, 126 and 14 seats in the Legislative Assembly and House of People, respectively, have been preserved.
- Reservation: ST assembly seats increased from 16 to 19; SC assembly seats increased from 8 to 9.
What is the issue?
- Since the EC revealed the draft plan, there have been protest all throughout Assam.
- Ethnic groups: Groups like the Ahoms are upset because there are fewer Assembly seats in eastern Assam and more in western Assam.
- To guarantee that Muslims have a smaller presence in the Assembly and Parliament, several constituencies have been redesigned to disperse Muslim votes.
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