Delimitation commission receives 290 suggestions
NEW DELHI: A commission redrawing poll constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) has received at least 290 representations from political parties and stakeholders, ranging from partially unfreezing 24 seats falling in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, postponing the exercise till after statehood is restored and ensuring every region gets its due, according to people familiar with the matter and documents accessed by HT.
The delimitation commission -set up by the government in March 2020 -- met representatives of all major political parties in J&K in Srinagar last month, except the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which boycotted the process.
The panel is headed by former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai,chief election commissioner Sushil Chandra and J&K election commissioner, KK Sharma.
One of the people cited above said that all representations will be carefully assessed before any decisions are taken. “The commission will do a detailed study of the representations, then have a meeting with the associate members,” this person said requesting anonymity.
The panel will be redrawing assembly segments based on the 2011 census and has nearly nine months left to do so. It will carve out reserved constituencies for the first time in the region and likely add seven more seats.
The National Conference -- the biggest mainstream party in Kashmir participating in the exercise -asked for the process to be conducted after statehood is restored. J&K’S special status and statehood were scrapped by the Centre in 2019. “(The) delimitation exercise would be a credible effort in strengthening democracy only after full statehood is restored to J&K,” NC said in its representation. “While reiterating our stand and without prejudice to the submissions made above, we request you and other hon’ble members of the commission to carry out the delimitation exercise in a free, fair and transparent manner...,” the representation added.
NC spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq said that the commission needed to be fair and transparent and address people’s concerns.
The Congress requested the commission to circulate its draft proposal for feedback and said every region should get its due.
“People of J&K have grave apprehensions of preconceived political prejudice governing the Commission’s final recommendations with a view to give unfair and undue advantage to a particular political party and to the exclusion of democratic rights of the people for a just and amicable delimitation process and particularly to put the mainstream political parties in a disadvantageous position on account of innate unfairness,” the party said in its representation.
The BJP, in its representation, sought the release of 24 constituencies that are part of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and kept vacant in the J&K assembly. The party also demanded reservation for POK refugees, three seats for Kashmiri pandits, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and other neglected people, the party said. HT reached out to the state party chief Ravinder Raina and general secretary Ashok Kaul but did not receive a response immediately.
Delimitation is a contentious process in J&K that gathered momentum after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met members of 14 political parties in the region at a landmark event in Delhi in June. Modi stressed on the importance of delimitation and said participating in the process would pave the way for fresh polls and statehood.
After the meeting, NC decided to end its boycott of the exercise. But concerns remain in J&K that the redrawing of constituencies will tilt the balance of power from Muslim-majority Kashmir -which currently has 46 seats in the 87-member assembly -- to Hindumajority Jammu, which has 37. The commission has repeatedly said it will conduct a fair and transparent exercise.