Guwahati, Oct 16 (IANS): Interest of "indigenous" people of Assam are being safeguarded through the delimitation exercise of Assembly and parliamentary constituencies, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has asserted.

Sarma made the observation while attending the Amrit Kalash Yatra in the Nalbari district on Sunday.

"Majority of the Assembly seats are now in safe positions for the 'indigenous' people of Assam. Of the 26 Assembly seats, at least 105 can be won by Assamese indigenous people," he told the media.

Earlier also, the Chief Minister repeatedly said that the delimitation exercise would be proven beneficial for the Assamese indigenous people.

This has sparked a controversy as the Opposition alleged that Sarma has been dictating the Election Commission (EC) conducted delimitation process to gain votes for the BJP.

Congress claimed that EC has become a puppet of the ruling party.

Meanwhile, Sarma while attending the Amrit Kalash Yatra in Nalbari, said that the reverberating chants of the people in the Amrit Kalash Yatra are indeed a testimony of the people's acceptance of the programme.

"I am immensely happy to see the spontaneous participation of all sections of the people of Nalbari who came out in large numbers in the Amrit Kalash Yatra," he added.

Notably, some of the Congress leaders were suspended from the party for attending the Amrit Kalash Yatra.

Even three of party MLAs were served show cause notice for the same.

As part of the Amrit Kalash Yatra, soil has been collected from households in village and municipal wards in the state, and later it will be put into urns upon mixing together on October 26.

At least 270 urns will be sent to the national capital, and an equal number of urns will be stored in Shankardev Kalakshetra in Guwahati. It will be later used in the foundation-laying ceremony of Assam’s largest proposed university in Gohpur.