A total of 10 opposition leaders from Assam have approached the Supreme Court of India challenging the draft proposal of the Election Commission of India (ECI) for the delimitation of 126 assembly constituencies and 14 Lok Sabha constituencies of the state.
The 10 opposition parties of Assam who have filed the petition in the Supreme Court are Indian National Congress, Raijor Dal, Assam Jatiya Parishad, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India, Trinamool Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, and Anchalik Gana Morcha, sources said.
Meanwhile, the petitioners have challenged Section 8A of the Representation of People Act, 1950, which forms the statutory foundation of the exercise of this power by the ECI.
As per reports, the petitioners have filed the petition through advocate Fuzail Ahmad Ayyubi. The petitioners have argued that the population density has no role to play in the delimitation process.
The petitioners have also challenged recent proposals of the ECI readjusting the extent of 126 Assembly and 14 Lok Sabha Constituencies in Assam by a draft order issued on June 20.
The petition read, “While the Constitution of India envisages an exercise whereby Constituencies are to be readjusted so as to ensure that all constituencies are comprised of an almost equal population, by relying on 2001 census figures, the Election Commission has created three categories of districts and has taken different yardstick for the three categories resulting in possible deviation of up to 33 per cent between the population of the largest and smallest constituency.”
Further, the petition also highlights few statements of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma who had publicly said that the present exercise will be beneficial to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) while being damaging to other opposition parties.
