Full Bench of Election Commission to visit Assam for delimitation

The EC will interact with political parties, public representatives, civil society organisations, and state administration officials

Prior to the delimitation exercise of constituencies in Assam, the full bench of the Election Commission of India will meet and hold discussions with various stakeholders, including political parties and civil society.

According to an official release on Saturday, the full bench of the Election Commission, comprising Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar and two Election Commissioners Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel, will be visiting Assam from March 26 to 28 to hold talks with various sections.

"The Commission has decided to visit Assam for knowing the ground reality and expectations of the stakeholders and general public on the ongoing delimitation exercise in the state," it added.

The Election Commission of India has been entrusted with the delimitation of the Assembly and Parliamentary constituencies of Assam.

"During this period, the Commission will interact with political parties, public representatives, civil societies, social organizations and state administration officials, including District Election Officers and Deputy Commissioners, to gather first-hand information," the release said.

In order to receive inputs concerning the ongoing process of delimitation, the Commission expects that all stakeholders will cooperate in the endeavour and will provide valuable suggestions so that the task is completed timely, it added.

The preliminary works to start the delimitation exercise have begun and the final job will begin after the CEC's visit in the last week of this month, a senior official from the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer told PTI.

On December 31, 2022, the Assam Cabinet decided to merge four districts with their parent districts from where they were carved out and made into separate districts. Biswanath with Sonitpur, Hojai with Nagaon, Tamulpur with Baksa and Bajali with Barpeta were merged.

The decisions to merge the districts were taken just a day before the Election Commission had imposed a ban on creating new administrative units in Assam from January 1, 2023, as the poll panel would undertake the delimitation exercise in the state.

The administrative jurisdiction of some villages and a few towns were also changed at the state cabinet meeting, held in New Delhi.

In March this year, the Gauhati High Court issued two notices to the Assam government asking to explain why it had dissolved Hojai and Biswanath districts within four weeks.