Delimitation row: BJP wants a biased EC for suiting their electoral needs, Assam Cong MP

Guwahati, Aug 16 (PTI) Deputy leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi on Wednesday said the BJP wants a biased Election Commission so that they can design the delimitation process in Assam as per their electoral convenience.

During an interaction with reporters, Gogoi said though the delimitation exercise in the state is being currently reviewed by the Supreme Court, the Election Commission did not wait for the final order and has gone ahead with publishing the delimitation list.

“There is an ongoing case in the Supreme Court and the poll panel has been asked to come up with specific clarifications. But it is unfortunate that instead of giving the explanations, they have published the delimitation list,” he said.

The delimitation list of constituencies has been designed to help the BJP and the AIUDF, he added.

Besides, a new Bill has been introduced where the Chief Justice of India has been removed from the panel for selection of election commissioners which shows the BJP did not want an unbiased EC, Gogoi said.

“It is clear that the BJP does not want the CJI to have a role in the selection of EC members. They want a biased EC so that they can design the delimitation exercise as per their electoral convenience,” he added.

The BJP wants to ”completely politicise the EC, remove any influence of the poll panel and the way the Election Commission has acted, it is almost an insult to the highest court of the land”, Gogoi said.

This, however, will not have any impact on the results of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections as the overall mood is in favour of the opposition bloc INDIA, the LS member from Kaliabor said.

”People have seen how the BJP has betrayed the people of Manipur and how people are facing the problems of price rise. We believe that irrespective of the delimitation process, the INDIA alliance will do well across the country in the forthcoming polls,” Gogoi said.

The poll panel, which had carried out the delimitation exercise, had on August 11 published the final report, keeping intact the number of assembly constituencies at 126 and Lok Sabha seats at 14, while revising the nomenclature of one parliamentary and 19 assembly constituencies as mentioned in the draft notification.

The EC had reserved 19 assembly and two Lok Sabha constituencies for Scheduled Tribes (STs) while one Lok Sabha and nine assembly constituencies have been reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs).

The EC’s final delimitation list has led to widespread protests by opposition parties and there has been dissatisfaction even among the ruling party’s alliance partner Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), particularly for the abolition of the Amguri assembly constituency which was held by the party.

All assembly and parliamentary constituencies in the state were delimited (redrawn) based on the 2001 Census.

The last delimitation exercise in Assam took place in 1976 on the basis of the 1971 Census.