Assam: ECI concludes 3-day public hearing on delimitation exercise

Guwahati, July 21 (IANS): The Election Commission of India (ECI) concluded on Friday the three-day public hearing on the draft delimitation published on June 20 this year.

The Commission comprising Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioners Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel held hearings from representatives of political parties, civil society organizations, and members of the public on the draft Delimitation proposal during the last three days in Guwahati.

The public hearings are part of the consultative exercise by the Commission during the process of delimitation.

An official release from the ECI mentioned that during the last three days, the Commission heard over 1200 representations from 31 districts and held meetings with over 20 political parties. Over the last three days, more than 6000 persons participated in the public hearings.

In marathon seating, on July 20, hearings lasted more than 20 hours, cumulatively, as the three Commissioners conducted parallel hearings at 3 venues. Similar was for July 19 and July 21, the official release mentioned.

Representatives from National Parties - Aam Aadmi Party, Indian National Congress, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and state Parties - All India United Democratic Front, Asom Gana Parishad, United Peoples Party Liberal (UPPL) and Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) shared their feedback and suggestions before the Commission.

The official statement added that the United Opposition Forum Assam (Assam Pradesh Congress, Assam Jatiya Parishad, CPM, Raijor Dal, CPI, Jatiya Dal Assam, NCP, RJD, Janata Dal (U), TMC, CPI(ML) & Others) and several Registered Unrecognized Political Parties (RUPPs) also participated.

Meanwhile, the ECI claimed that the increase of SC Assembly seats from 8 to 9 and ST Assembly seats from 16-19 was widely welcomed by different organizations. Several organizations also welcomed the draft proposal based on Census 2001 and were largely satisfied with the draft delimitation proposal.

“The people and organizations from four Bodoland districts and three Autonomous Hill Council districts welcomed the proposal. However, there was a demand for further increase of Assembly seats in Dima Hasao, West Karbi Anglong, and Karbi Anglong districts owing to the large hilly geographical area and the sparsely populated inhabitations,” ECI statement mentioned.

According to the official statement, the people from Bodoland Territorial Area also demanded the creation of one more ST Parliamentary seat for the Udalguri and Baksa districts. If not, at least the name of Darang PC is to be changed to Udalguri.

“A few representations from Barak Valley welcomed de-reserving the Parliamentary Constituency of Karimganj. However, several representations from Barak Valley demanded that Assembly seats in the valley should be restored from 13 to 15. Many organizations also requested for change of nomenclature of some Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies, highlighting the historical, cultural, political, and ethnic significance of the region,” the release further mentioned.