Guwahati: Ten Opposition leaders have filed a petition in Supreme Court challenging the ongoing delimitation process in Assam, which seeks to redraw boundaries of Lok Sabha and State Assembly constituencies based on a recent Census to ensure each seat has an almost equal number of voters.
The petitioners belong to parties including the Congress, Assam Jatiya Parishad, CPI(M), CPI, TMC, NCP, RJD and Anchalik Gana Morcha, reported India Today.
Filed through Advocate Fuzail Ahmad Ayyubi, the petition specifically challenges the methodology adopted by Election Commission of India (ECI) and its proposals notified on June 20.
The petition argues that average assembly sizes for different districts and population density should not play a role in the delimitation process. It further states that while the Indian Constitution aims to readjust constituencies to ensure equal population distribution, the ECI is relying on 2001 census figures and has created three categories of districts using different criteria for each category.
The petition also challenges Section 8A of Representation of People Act, 1950, under which the EC exercises its power, and contends that this provision is arbitrary, opaque and discriminatory against Assam and three other north-eastern states.
The Opposition leaders have pointed out that similar delimitation exercises elsewhere have been conducted by a high-powered body headed by a retired Supreme Court Judge, and have sought the top court’s intervention to ensure a fair and unbiased delimitation process in Assam.
