Delimitation of development blocks ahead of panchayat polls in Nov: Assam CM
Himanta Biswa Sarma said some development blocks were spread across 3-4 assembly seats after last year’s delimitation of assembly and parliamentary seats
Guwahati: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday during a cabinet meeting said that the state will carry out delimitation of all development blocks ahead of the panchayat polls to be held in November.
“We have decided to hold panchayat elections in the state in November. To ensure that a panchayat or zila parishad does not fall in two assembly constituencies, we will have delimitation of all development blocks in the state and redrawing of boundaries of panchayats ahead of that,” the CM said.
Sarma said that following last year’s delimitation of assembly and parliamentary seats in the state, some development blocks had spread over three to four Assembly seats. Hence, there is a need to carry out delimitation ahead of the panchayat elections.
He said that the delimitation process will end in August, the voter’s list will be out in September, and the announcement of panchayat polls will be made in October.
Further, the cabinet has decided to set up a sub-committee comprising finance minister Ajanta Neog, ministers Ranoj Pegu, Bimal Borah and Ranjit Dass, who will submit a report within a month on the cost of expanding the state government’s flagship scheme ‘Orunodoy’ which provided Rs.1,250 per month to families from weaker economic background, to all eligible beneficiaries, Sarma said.
The cabinet approved the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Prasar Bharati for preparing a 52-episode documentary series on legendary Ahom General Lachit Barphukan, which will be telecast on Doordarshan national and its regional channels.
“The cabinet also decided to provide 1.5 million additional individuals in the state with new ration cards,” Sarma said. With this, the total number of beneficiaries in Assam will be over 28 million.
The CM said that the cabinet has approved holding 93 meetings in 93 of the 126 assembly constituencies in the state in July to thank voters there.
These are the constituencies where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies have secured more votes than their rival parties in the recently concluded Lok Saha polls. In the 33 remaining assembly seats, meetings will be held to understand the grievances of residents there.
Further, to honour noted social activist and Padma Shri recipient Birubala Rabha, who passed away last month, the cabinet has decided to mark the date of her death, May 13, as day against superstitions and other social ills every year, Sarma said.
Commenting on the victory of Congress candidate Rakibul Hussain over sitting All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) chief and sitting Dhubri MP Badruddin Ajmal by over 10 lakh (one million) votes in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls, Sarma said that the Muslim votes in Assam shifted entirely from AIUDF to Congress in this election.
“This showed that this election was very polarised and communal. Hindu voters gave their support to candidates from all parties. On the other hand, the votes of people from one community went to one party. This shows that development and other issues were not a consideration for those voters, they voted on religious lines,” Sarma said.
“This is the first time such a thing has happened in Assam...With a 40 per cent Muslim population in Assam, you can imagine what the situation in the state will be in the coming years. Some people say BJP is a communal party, but they can see now what the truth is” he added.
The chief minister said that since one of his cabinet colleagues, Parimal Suklabaidya won the Silchar seat in this election, the present ministry will be reshuffled before August 15.
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