NEW DELHI: The election commission of India (ECI) has become a tool in the BJP’s power machinery.
This was alleged by Assam Congress MP and deputy leader of the party in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi.
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Assam Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi made this statement on Friday (July 07) in New Delhi.
He made this statement while speaking on the delimitation exercise conducted in Assam by the ECI.
“ECI has become just another tool in the BJP’s power grabbing machinery,” said Assam Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi.
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Gogoi claimed that the ECI is conducting the delimitation exercise in Assam “without consulting the opposition parties or the people” of the state.
He said that the ECI refrained from using the 2011 census data and instead is relying on a 20-year-old census from 2001 for the delimitation exercise in Assam.
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“Now that the ECI has published a draft, we have come to Delhi to ask the poll panel few questions,” said Gogoi.
He added: “We want to ask the ECI as to how and on the basis of what guidelines have they undergone and undertaken this delimitation process.”
It may be mentioned here that as many as eleven (11) opposition parties from Assam, including the Congress, submitted a memorandum to the ECI against the delimitation exercise being carried out in the state.
Besides the Congress, the other parties from Assam to have raised objection to the delimitation exercise are: Raijor Dal, Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), Jatiya Dal, state units of the TMC, NCP, CPI, CPI-M, CPI-ML, RJD and JD-U.
As per the recently published draft delimitation proposal, while the number of assembly and Lok Sabha seats in Assam will remain unchanged at 126 and 14 respectively, changes will be initiated in the geographical boundaries of most constituencies – both assembly and Lok Sabha.