Fri. Mar 29th, 2024
“EC does not take dictation”, says CEC Rajiv Kumar on Congress "match-fixing" charge

Poll body chief said “EC does not take dictation from anybody. As a commission, our process depends on two foundations- disclosure and participation,” Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said at a press conference in Guwahati on Congress “match-fixing” charge.

Assam Congress chief Bhupen Borah had said they went to Delhi and submitted a memorandum to the Election Commission raising many concerns regarding the redrawing of district borders, but the EC has not yet responded. “We are ready to meet and discuss with the EC but first, we need to get a reply to our queries,” he had said.

Congress MLA and Assam Leader of Opposition Debabrata Saikia said yesterday, “Now they are only giving 10–15 minutes, and we don’t think meeting them will be of any use.”

The Chief Election Commissioner emphasised that it wants to communicate with all political parties and cited the fact that it provided the congress the first opportunity to meet in January.

“We see that EC has a pre-determined motive behind this process. We get a feeling that there is a match-fixing between the EC and BJP, since December 27, the EC made a press note on delimitation in Assam and on December 30, the Assam cabinet passed a resolution to merge four districts, altering district boundaries in the state. And on January 1 this year, the EC issued the notification. What does this mean?” Borah has questioned.

Other opposition parties AIUDF and Trinamool Congress have voiced concerns about the process in closed-door meetings with the EC, including concerns about the Assam National Register of Citizens (NRC), the timing of the delimitation exercise prior to the 2024 general election, and worries that it may change the boundaries of constituencies with a Muslim majority.

The commissioner is in Guwahati on a three-day visit to have meetings with stakeholders, including political parties and civil societies on the delimitation process in Assam.

Based on the 2001 census, the delimitation process for redrawing the Assam assembly and parliamentary constituencies’ territorial borders had been stuck for 14 years. The last delimitation in Assam was done in 1976.

In this consultation, the commission met with 60 civil organisations from various regions of Assam, according to Kumar, who also added that he had meetings with senior district administrators from every district in Assam.

“We decided to hold discussion with stakeholders before publication of the draft. We had discussions with 9 recognised national and state political parties. Around 60 civil organisations met ECI and gave their recommendations. We met District Magistrates, and secretaries. We asked Deputy Commissioners that those who are not able to meet ECI channel their aspirations to us. The civil society organizations that gave suggestions included Bodoland organizations, students’ unions and communities such as Gorkhas, Ahoms and Garo.” Rajiv Kumar said reports news agency ANI.

“We will consider all the suggestions received and try to include them keeping the equitability issue in mind,” Rajiv Kumar said. However, he clarified that the number of both Assembly and Lok Sabha seats in Assam would remain the same even after this delimitation process. This delimitation process was started in 2002 but was put on hold. EC took up the delimitation duty after the ministry of law wrote to EC, Kumar added.

“EC will give time until April 15 for anyone to send further suggestions. After that, the draft will be published. One month’s time will be given for suggestions on the draft,” the commissioner said. Notably, he also clarified that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the delimitation process are two separate issues, and there is no legal compulsion to carry out the two simultaneously.

“The delimitation process is not timing driven. There is support from all to complete the delimitation process quickly,” Rajiv Kumar said.

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