Election Commission gets 1,200 representations on Assam delimitation draft

The Election Commission of India received 1,200 representations from various groups on Assam's delimitation draft, which proposes to retain 126 Assembly seats and 14 Lok Sabha constituencies, with increased seats reserved for SCs and STs.

In its three-day-long public hearing on Assam's draft delimitation proposal, the Election Commission received more than 1,200 representations from various groups, including those who shared divergent views on matters such as renaming Assembly constituencies.

According to an official, representations came from a wide array of groups, each presenting their unique perspectives on multiple issues related to the delimitation process to redraw Assembly and parliamentary constituencies.

Also read | Proposal to increase reserved seats in Assam welcomed: poll panel 

Political parties, ethnic organisations, social and cultural groups citizens made more than 1,200 representations before the poll panel.

"During the public hearings, various groups shared conflicting views on a particular matter. There were certain demands, which were beyond the remit of the delimitation exercise. But the EC was able to bring diverse groups with divergent views on one table for the delimitation exercise," an official said.

Some representations were made to increase the number of Lok Sabha and Assembly seats. But the demands are beyond the remit of the delimitation exercise.

Citing examples of some divergent views, the official said the Kendriya Koch Rajbangshi Lok Sanskriti Samiti demanded that the Bhawanipur Assembly seat be renamed ‘Barnagar’, whereas the Chakchaka Block Congress Committee wanted it to be ‘Sorbhog’.