New Delhi: A row has broken out over the Election Commission’s (EC) decision to begin the delimitation of assembly and parliamentary constituencies in Assam on the basis of the 2001 Census, following a request from the law ministry on 15 November.
Opposition parties are accusing the BJP-led state government of attempting to “tinker with Muslim-majority seats in Assam for its own advantage”.
They are also questioning why the delimitation exercise is being conducted using data from the 2001 Census and not the more recent 2011 Census, according to which the population of Muslims in Assam has increased by 3.3 per cent — the highest growth in the country.
“When 2011 Census data is available, why is the government using the 2001 Census data?” Congressman and Leader of Opposition in Assam Debabrata Saikia told ThePrint. In Assam, the last delimitation of constituencies was done in 1976 on the basis of the 1971 Census.
All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) MLA Aminul Islam asked, “when seats are to be increased in 2026 (when the next national delimitation is due) and the process for the (deferred) 2021 Census is about to begin, to what extent is it appropriate to make the census of 20 years ago (2001) the basis of delimitation in Assam?”.
He added that “this clearly shows the master plan of the BJP government is something else, for which this delimitation is being started. Their intention is only to tamper with the population of Muslim-dominated seats”.
Assam BJP president Bhabesh Kalita termed the allegations regarding delimitation in the state as baseless.
He referred to the EC’s direction of a “complete ban on the creation of new administrative units with effect from January 1, 2023, till the completion of delimitation exercise in the state (Assam)”.
Asserting that Assam has 14 Lok Sabha seats and 126 assembly seats “which will remain intact”, Kalita told ThePrint: “No seat has to be changed in this delimitation. When the exercise was conducted across the country (in 2008) on the basis of the 2001 Census, Assam should also get the benefit of the 2001 data first.”
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‘Raising questions, doubts only meant to spread confusion’
The Muslim population in Assam has seen the highest surge in the decade between the 2001 Census and 2011 Census. While the Muslim population across India surged only 0.8 per cent in the 10 years — from 13.4 per cent to 14.2 per cent — the maximum rise was in Assam.
The state’s percentage of Muslims was 30.9 per cent in 2001, which jumped to 34.2 per cent in 2011. In the meantime, the population of Hindus saw a decline in the state.
The Muslim community is currently in majority in nine of the state’s 35 districts. Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has repeatedly talked about the increase in Muslim population in the border areas of the state, underlining the possible effects of it on the Assamese community and culture.
Talking about the need for delimitation, Kalita said: “Only those assembly seats where the proportion of the population is high have to be made in proportion. There are 3 lakh voters in some seats and 1.5 lakh in some others. This way it becomes difficult for MLAs to use government funds where there are more voters. That’s why the need for delimitation has arisen.”
He added: “The Election Commission will do the whole process, and raising questions and doubts is only meant to spread confusion”.
All about delimitation
Delimitation is key for the conduct of polls in India and is aimed at providing fair representation to all segments of society. The exercise involves redrawing boundaries of Lok Sabha and assembly seats to represent changes in the population. The demographic reworking also changes the number of seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
According to The Delimitation Act of 2002, there can be no change in the seats of any state assembly or the Lok Sabha till 2026.
Delimitation was completed in the entire country in 2008, on the basis of the 2001 Census, but four Northeastern states and Jammu & Kashmir were then excluded from the exercise.
This was done after several organisations from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, and Nagaland challenged the 2001 Census in the Gauhati High Court. Political parties in Assam, including the BJP, had also met then home minister Shivraj Patil and demanded that the delimitation exercise be postponed as the National Register of Citizens (NRC, meant to identify illegal immigrants) had not been revised.
Keeping the demands in mind, the Centre had postponed delimitation in the four states and J&K by amending the Delimitation Act in 2008.
On March 6, 2020, the BJP-led central government reconstituted the Delimitation Commission for the four states as well as the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir.
In February this year, President Ram Nath Kovind ordered the delimitation process to be restarted, scrapping the 2008 order.
In May, the delimitation exercise was completed for Jammu & Kashmir on the basis of the 2011 Census — a fact that opposition parties are highlighting while protesting the use of 2001 data for delimitation in Assam.
Earlier this month, the Assam government informed the Centre that there is a favourable environment for delimitation in the state.
2001 and 2011 Census
Hindus are in the majority in Assam and their population is 61.47 per cent, according to the 2011 Census. Assam has a total population of 3.1 crore, of which 1.07 crore people are Muslims and are in abundance in districts like Dhubri Barpeta, Karimganj, Goalpara, Morigaon, Darrang, Hailakandi, and Bongaigaon.
According to the statistics of 2001, Muslims were in abundance in six districts, which rose to nine in 2011.
The challenge for the BJP is to reduce the influence of the Congress and AIUDF in Muslim-majority areas.
The AIUDF has a large Muslim following in Assam and, in the 2021 state elections, it won 16 seats, increasing its tally from the 13 it had won in the 2016 polls in the state.
According to Pallab Lochan Das, BJP MP from Tezpur, Assam, “Delimitation is meant to remove disparities where there is an imbalance of population, whether it is minority or majority, so that the benefits of governance can reach all the people.”
Another senior BJP leader from Assam pointed out the “error of not having delimitation on the basis of 2001 data” and the “need to correct the old records”.
“It is beneficial for the party to use the 2001 Census not only politically but also for the next census, when the seats of Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha would have increased (in 2026),” he said.
Saikia, however, wondered that “by the time delimitation is completed in Assam, the process of collating new census data would start, so why is the government wasting so much money (now)?”
Or, he added, “behind the exercise, is the government trying to draw up seats for its benefit by dividing the proportion of the population of Muslim-majority seats among other seats?”
“We have demanded that the Election Commission undertake delimitation on the basis of latest census data,” he said.
Saikia also pointed out that while delimitation in Assam was in the works, no decision had yet been taken on the fate of the 19 lakh people excluded from the Assam NRC.
Jayanta Krishna Sarmah, a professor from Gauhati University, emphasised the need for neutrality. “The Asom Gana Parishad and BJP always kept Assamese people’s asmita (dignity) in mind, but it should not alienate the minority. It’s good that delimitation will restore constituency population and boundary imbalances but it should be done in a neutral way and not to favour any party,” he said.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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