On June 20, the day the Election Commission of India (ECI) published a draft proposal for the delimitation of assembly and parliamentary constituencies in Assam, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma took to Twitter to express his “sadness” as Jalukbari—his constituency since 2001—had been redrawn with two core areas merged with other constituencies and new areas added elsewhere. Sarma believes 70 per cent of his voters will be new when the state goes to the polls in 2026 but still welcomed the draft as “it accurately reflects the sentiments of Assam”.
His detractors have no sympathy for his “loss”. They claim the only purpose of the delimitation exercise is to help the ruling BJP wincommunity are also Bangla speakers, who often invite charges of being ‘illegal Bangladeshi immigrants’.
