Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Monday that the state government has no role to play in the ongoing delimitation exercise being carried out by the Election Commission of India, in response to a question from Congress MLA Rekibuddin Ahmed during the current assembly budget session on how the delimitation exercise would be carried out.
He stated that the EC has informed the state government that a new delimitation exercise has begun in Assam, but that his government has no idea when the process will be completed.
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The Election Commission is conducting a new delimitation exercise in the state to redraw assembly and parliamentary constituencies.
Constituency delimitation process in Assam was not stopped due to National Register of Citizens. Previous Congress govt had stopped delimitation of constituencies in Assam because then Govt said it would destroy peace and order in Assam. CM Himanta Biswa Sarma today in assembly. pic.twitter.com/5HP3N4tNPc
— Nandan Pratim Sharma Bordoloi (@NANDANPRATIM) March 20, 2023
“We can’t say when this process would end as state government is not directly or indirectly linked with it. “Our role would be limited to providing whatever data the EC requests about the process,” the chief minister said in the state assembly on Monday.
Sarma refuted reports in various local news outlets on how some constituencies will be reshaped once delimitation is completed, saying that the EC has not validated such speculations and urging opposition legislators not to fall victim to such speculations.
A team from the Election Commission of India (ECI) will visit Assam to assess the ground reality and expectations of stakeholders and the general public regarding the state’s ongoing delimitation exercise.
According to an official release issued on Saturday, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, along with Commissioners Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel, have decided to visit Assam from March 26 to 28 to meet with various stakeholders.
