Delimitation and NRC can be done separately and simultaneously: CEC in Assam

The Election Commission on Thursday said that there is no legal bar in carrying out Delimitation and the NRC exercise separately and simultaneously in Assam while categorically rejecting demands for deferment of the Delimitation exercise in the state till the NRC update process is complete.

"The Delimitation and the NRC are two different issues. These are two legally distinct activities and come under two different legislative frameworks. And there is no legal bar in carrying out the two exercises separately and simultaneously," Chief Election Commissioner, Rajiv Kumar said here when asked by DH during a press conference about demands by some political parties and local organisations that the Delimitation be deferred till the NRC process is over.

A team of the Election Commission on Tuesday completed its initial hearing with political parties and civil society organisations in Assam about the Delimitation exercise to be carried out in the state to redraw boundaries of the 14 Lok Sabha constituencies and 126 Assembly Constituencies.

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Kumar said the EC team met representatives of nine political parties (both national and regional) and nearly 60 civil society organisations during its consultation on Monday and Tuesday in Guwahati.

The delimitation exercise in Assam was supposed to be carried out in 2008 but the same was deferred mainly due to law and order issues. The EC started the process in December last year after being asked by the government. The boundaries of the constituencies will be readjusted based on the Population Census of 2001 as per the Constitutional provisions but there will be no change in the number of the constituencies, Kumar said.

Over 19.06 lakh applicants were kept out of the final draft of the NRC, which was released in 2019. The NRC is being updated only in Assam in order to solve the state's long foreign problem. But the NRC exercise went into the backburner as several petitions seeking re-verification of the final draft are pending in the Supreme Court.

Kumar said a team of the commission will again visit Assam after the publication of the draft proposal for the Delimitation. "Any party or organisation can submit their suggestions to us till April 15, following which a draft proposal will be published," he said. When asked if the Delimitation exercise would be completed before the Lok Sabha elections in 2014, the CEC refused to disclose the deadline or a timeline for the exercise.

Congress again skips EC hearing

Congress, the main Opposition party in Assam, again skipped the hearing with the EC team on Tuesday for non-reply to the issues it raised in the memorandum submitted to the EC. The EC on Monday invited Congress for the third time but the Opposition party did not turn up for the meeting on the second and last day on Tuesday. When asked about Congress' decision, Kumar said anyone can reach out to the EC with suggestions till April 15 and again when the EC team will visit Assam after the publication of the draft proposal. "We want to have consultation with all stakeholders and political parties are important stakeholders for us in this regard," he said.