Delimitation panel readies draft report after visit to J&K

SRINAGAR : Nearly a fortnight after its visit to Jammu and Kashmir, the Delimitation Commission has started working on a draft report on the proposed new shape of assembly constituencies that will be shared with its associate members before being put in the public domain, officials here said on Sunday.

The commission headed by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Desai had visited the Union territory from July 6 to 9. The commission also comprises chief election commissioner Sushil Chandra as an ex-officio member and the Jammu and Kashmir electoral officer.

The officials said the commission will compile the data received from deputy commissioners and nearly 290 delegations comprising 800 representatives of political parties and people from other walks of life whom its members met during their visit.

A draft report will be prepared using these inputs and it will be shared with the associate members, which include three Lok Sabha members from the National Conference —Farooq Abdullah, Hasnain Masoodi and Akbar Lone — and the BJP’S Jitendra Singh and Jugal Kishore Sharma. The National Conference had boycotted the first meeting of the commission.

The officials said that after sharing the draft report, the Delimitation Commission will hold a meeting with the associate members to obtain their views before putting out the final draft for seeking public comments and challenges on redrawing of the boundaries.

The delimitation exercise has attained an urgency amid indications that the Centre is keen to hold early assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.

Once the delimitation exercise is completed, the number of assembly seats in J&K will go up from 83 to 90.

THE COMMISSION HAS TIME TILL MARCH 6 NEXT YEAR TO REDRAW THE BOUNDARIES AND CREATE NEW CONSTITUENCIES

Panun Kashmir objects to delimitation exercise based on 2011 Census

JAMMU : The Panun Kashmir, an organisation of displaced Kashmiri Pandits, on Sunday objected to the conduct of the delimitation exercise in J&K on the basis of 2011 Census.

Its chairman Ajay Chrungoo claimed that the exercise based on the 2011 data will negate the social and political gains made since the abrogation of J&K’S special status under Article 370.