Guwahati: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) party of Assam petitioned the Election Commission of India (ECI) to halt the state’s delimitation process on March 27.
TMC sent a memorandumon March 22 to the ECI requesting that the Commission postpone the ongoing delimitation procedure for three years.
The party wants the panel to start the process in 2026 and include the whole country.
TMC supported its proposal in its memorandum by citing many sources, including the population census and the National Registry of Citizens (NRC).
The Assam delimitation process which had started in 2003–2004, was first said in the memorandum to have been delayed until 2008 due to political party consensus that it would only take place after the NRC had been revised.
The names of over 19 lakh applicants were removed from the list despite the fact that the most recent updated NRC list was issued in August 2019.
Since applicants were not given the reasons why their names were rejected as per NRC protocol they haven’t yet been able to submit an appeal petition to have their cases reevaluated for inclusion in the NRC.
The memorandum continued, “The purpose of postponing the delimitation exercise in Assam in 2008 will serve no purpose without finalizing the entire process of NRC and without identifying foreigners.”