On Saturday, demonstrations were held in the Sivasagar district of Assam in opposition to the state’s final delimitation report for Assembly and parliamentary constituencies. The protesters demanded the reinstatement of previous seats.
A Tiwa organisation also spoke out against the final delimitation report, stating that its demand for a Morigaon seat reservation has gone unmet. Some protesters tore off their shirts to express their opposition to it.
The final report, which was released on Friday, maintained the state’s 126 Assembly districts and 14 Lok Sabha seats. However, it changed the names of the 19 Assembly constituencies and one parliamentary constituency that were stated in the draught announcement.
The delimitation exercise was completed by the EC.
Scheduled Castes (SC) have nine Assembly and one Lok Sabha constituencies allocated for them, whereas Scheduled Tribes (ST) have 19 Assembly and two Lok Sabha constituencies reserved for them.
The refusal to reserve the Morigaon Assembly seat, the rejection of the demand to maintain the integrity of the Lahowal and Amguri Assembly constituencies in the Sivasagar district, and the inclusion of Sivasagar district regions under neighbouring districts were the reasons for the backlash against the final report.
Local residents and organisations protested the decision in Amguri town and chanted anti-chief minister and anti-local Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) MLA slogans. AGP is a partner in the state’s ruling BJP-led coalition administration.
In order to express their opposition to the final delimitation report, the protesters took off their shirts while the police stopped them from burning effigies of Sarma and Hazarika.
Activists from the opposition Raijor Dal also demonstrated against the delimitation final report close to Sivasgar town, briefly closing the national highway.
Akhil Gogoi, the head of Raijor Dal and a Sivasagar MLA, argued that the outcome of a petition filed before the Supreme Court by a number of political parties criticising the entire delimitation process would determine the eventual EC order.
The Morigaon Assembly constituency was not set aside for STs, which was protested by the All Tiwa Students Association.
‘We had submitted before the state government and the EC with evidence why Morigaon should be reserved for STs. But our demand has gone unheeded. We are forced to think that the government does not consider the Tiwas as indigenous people,’ it said.
Soon after it was released, opposition parties condemned the final delimitation report and accused the BJP of power of using it as a ruse to secure its political future. Additionally, they argued that the EC ignored the challenges brought to it by political parties, people, and other groups.
According to the chief minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, some of the state government’s comments that were made in response to public demands were included in the final notification.
Based on the results of the 2001 census, all of the state’s Assembly and parliamentary districts were redrew. On the basis of the 1971 Census, Assam underwent its last delineation process in 1976. The draught delimitation paper had been made public by the EC on June 20, and the complete poll panel had scheduled a three-day visit to Guwahati beginning on July 19 to take objections and requests from political parties, groups, and people.
Before releasing the draught, an EC delegation visited Assam from March 26–28 and engaged in discussions about the delimitation process with political parties, public representatives, members of civil society, social groups, members of the public, and officers.
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