Finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said if a seat is reserved without altering the boundary, then the demogr…Read More
GUWAHATI: Assam finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said the sole purpose of redrawing the boundaries of assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies in the state should be to protect the political rights of native Assamese by creating more seats in which a majority of voters would be from indigenous groups.
The state government’s stand on the nature of delimitation is likely to play a significant role in allaying the fears of indigenous Assamese that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act might turn them into a minority in their own homeland. The CAA offers citizenship to non-Muslims from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan on grounds of religious persecution.
“Of the 126 assembly constituencies, at least 110 should be kept for the indigenous people. We do not want any increase in the number of constituencies… that won’t help us,” Sarma said.
Muslim voters in Assam acc