Published: 17th Aug, 2023
Context
The Election Commission published its final report on the delimitation of assembly and parliamentary constituencies in Assam, keeping their total numbers unchanged at 126 and 14 respectively.
Key-highlights of Order:
|
Reservation of constituencies for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes has been done on the basis of the provisions laid down in Article 330 and 332 of the Constitution of India |
- In its final order, the poll panel has revised the nomenclature of one parliamentary and 19 assembly constituencies.
- 19 assembly and two Lok Sabha constituencies have been reserved for Scheduled Tribes (STs).
- One Lok Sabha and nine assembly constituencies have been reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs).
- All assembly and parliamentary constituencies in the state were delimited (redrawn) based on the 2001 Census.
What is Delimitation?
- Delimitation means the act or process of fixing limits or boundaries of territorial constituencies in a country or a province having a legislative body, as per the Election Commission of India.
- In India, the job of delimitation is assigned to the Delimitation Commission or a Boundary Commission.
- Since Independence, the Commissions have been constituted four times — in 1952, 1963, 1973 and 2002.
Why was Assam left out?
- Under the provisions of the Delimitation Act, 1972, the last delimitation of constituencies in Assam was done on the basis of census figures, 1971, by the then Delimitation Commission in 1976.
- However, when the exercise was repeated in 2002, Assam was not a part of that. Not just Assam, but Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, and Nagaland, were also left out after a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed in the Guwahati High Court challenging the use of the 2001 Census for reference.
- In February 2020, then President Ram Nath Kovind paved the way for the delimitation exercise in Assam, rescinding the February 8, 2008 order.
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