Nine Opposition parties in Assam have moved the Supreme Court challenging the methodology adopted by the Election Commission in creating a delimitation draft for the state, Live Law reported.

A delimitation exercise refers to demarcating boundaries of assembly and parliamentary constituencies as well as civic wards.

In the draft released on June 20, the poll body has proposed to abolish several Muslim-majority assembly seats by either merging or subsuming them under other newly-created constituencies – many of them with significant Hindu populations.

The Congress, Raijor Dal, Assam Jatiya Parishad, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India, Trinamool Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Anchalik Gana Morcha have opposed the exercise in the Supreme Court.

In their petition, the parties have challenged Section 8A of the Representation of People Act, 1950, based on which the Election Commission has exercised its power to conduct the delimitation process, according to Bar and Bench.

They claimed that the methodology adopted by the poll body for the exercise took different average assembly sizes for different districts and argued that population density has no role to play in the delimitation exercise.

The petitioners said that by relying on the data of the 2001 census, the Election Commission has created three categories of districts and has taken a different yardstick for each category, according to Live Law. This has led to a possible deviation of up to 33% between the populations of the largest and the smallest constituencies, they submitted.

They added that the statements made by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma indicate that the exercise was carried out to benefit the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

“Such statements do not inspire any confidence in the exercise, but also give rise to apprehensions that the Election Commission’s exercise has not been independent and has been heavily dictated by the state government,” the petitioners said.

The delimitation draft

In Barak Valley, the draft has recommended a reduction of assembly seats from 15 to 13 – one each in the Muslim-majority districts of Karimganj and Hailakandi.

In Barpeta, another Muslim-majority district, the poll body has proposed to reduce the Assembly seats from eight to six. Among them, one would be earmarked for a candidate from the Scheduled Caste community if the draft proposal is accepted.

Overall, the Election Commission has proposed to increase the seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes in Assam from eight to nine, and for the Scheduled Tribes from 16 to 19. However, the poll body has retained the number of Assembly seats at 126 and the Lok Sabha constituencies at 14.

Also read: Why the Election Commission’s Assam delimitation proposal is being seen as communal