Gerrymandering refers to manipulating electoral district composition and boundaries to favor a particular group. Recent accusations have raised serious concerns about the fairness of the electoral process in a democracy with historically untainted election bodies. However, the allegations being exchanged between various opposition parties, including Congress and the All Assam Students Association, over the last few months are subject to scrutiny. It is essential to determine whether these accusations hold substance or if they are merely attempts to brand the ruling party as communal and autocratic.
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An insight into delimitation
The issue emanates from a release of a draft delimitation document for Assam by the Election Commission of India (ECI). Delimitation refers to redrawing of boundaries of an Assembly or Lok Sabha seat based on population changes in the census data. It can cause changes in the number of seats to reflect the latest population trends.
Article 82 of the Constitution empowers Parliament to enact a Delimitation Act after every census. Based on Article 170, figures of the 2001 census are to be used for the latest delimitation exercise. The last population-based delimitation in India took place in 1976, while the last delimitation was completed in 2008. However, it didn’t change the number of seats due to a freeze in doing so till 2026. The delimitation exercise was deferred in Assam and a few other northeast states in 2008 owing to security concerns. A 2020 Law Ministry notification revived the exercise, following which the EC initiated it in December 2022.
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The history
The 1971 war, which caused millions of (predominantly Muslim) refugees to flee into Assam, brought focus on the immigration issue. The tipping point, however, proved to be the by-election in Mangaldoi in 1979, where a large number of voters’ Indian citizenship came into doubt. This led to the start of a series of protests organised by the All Assam Students’ Union demanding detection, disenfranchisement, and deportation of foreigners.
The Assam movement began with demonstrations and rallies, involving ethnic Assamese, leading to the imposition of the President’s rule. The state assembly election of February 1983 marked the breakdown of Assam’s framework of ethnic accommodation and political order. The election was a direct challenge of the central government to the Assam Movement. It was held based on the 1979 electoral rolls, not the 1971 as demanded by the movement and aimed to “undermine Assam’s unity” since a large voter turnout would have challenged the necessity of the Movement. It saw varied voting patterns and violence with ethnic Assamese in areas that boycott it whereas immigrant areas saw high turnouts. Congress(I) won, appointing Hiteshwar Saikia, an Ahom, as chief minister, attempting to weaken the movement’s support among the upper-class Ahom community. Despite being in power for 33 months, the government couldn’t sway the movement’s popular base.
This led to the Assam Accords of 1985. The Accord, signed between prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and leaders of the Assam movement on 15 August 1985, disenfranchised the immigrants who came between 1966 and 1971 for ten years while providing for deporting the ones who came after 1971.
However, the Assam Accord did not solve the problem of foreigners’ names in electoral rolls due to the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act 1983, which made it practically impossible to prove anyone as a migrant. This was repealed in a 2005 judgement based on a writ petition filed by Sarbananda Sonowal and the subsequent Foreign Tribunals for Assam Order 2005 was also set aside by the Supreme Court in 2005.
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The issue at hand
While the number of Assembly and Lok Sabha seats for Assam has not been changed based on the 2001 census (126 and 14 respectively). The boundaries and names of many constituencies have been altered. The number of seats reserved for SC and ST communities under Article 332 have increased from 8 to 9 and 16 to 19, respectively. The EC recently sought the opinion of several political parties and stakeholders in Assam pertaining to the proposed Delimitation draft.
The ruling BJP has welcomed the move hailing it as representative of the indigenous interests. The exercise has faced criticism from opposition parties who see this as an attempt to reduce the influence of Muslims in political affairs. AASU, while welcoming the move has made it clear that it does not agree with all the provisions of the draft. It calls for basing the delimitation exercise post 2026 on the 1991 Census to avoid any discrimination. The Congress has urged for broader acceptance and consensus on the exercise while criticising the exercise as being held under the supervision of the BJP.
The way ahead
The people of Assam have long missed the benefits and progress owing to their internal strife and unrest. The last delimitation in Assam happened more than 40 years ago, in 1976. It is extremely unjust to the people making them miss out on representation on the basis of the changed demographic and social situation.
The Assam Accords of 1985 were passed after a fierce struggle for the rights of the indigenous people. Clause 6 of the Accord provides for constitutional, legislative, and administrative safeguards for the indigenous inhabitants of the state. The non-completion of the CAA exercise, the non-implementation of the suggestions of the Home Ministry Committee to implement Clause 6, along with a complete failure to deport existing Bangladeshi illegal immigrants has caused the feeling of betrayal among the Assamese people.
However, indigenous groups such as those represented by the Bodo Territorial Council and the Karbi Anglong district have hailed the move. This is of great importance as they have traditionally been hostile to the Indian State.
One has to understand that the Assam Movement did not stand for increasing any communal discord but protecting the cultural, social, and linguistic rights of all Assamese people. Illegal immigration, along with complete apathy of successive governments in dealing with it owing to political gains has given rise to issues such as militancy and violence.
Several steps post 2014 such as a renewed push for the integration of the northeast with the rest of the country, steadfast development and agreements for peace have taken place. The long overdue delimitation exercise is another step to secure the aspirations of the Assamese people and provide them with confidence that the Indian State does care about their culture and will not hesitate to take steps, no matter how controversial, to ensure their best is kept in mind.
Rudra Singh Krishna and Rahul Pandey are 2nd year students at West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences. Views are personal.
(Edited by Anurag Chaubey)