J&K oppn parties reject delimitation panel report, to discuss situation on Mon

JAMMU: Several opposition parties on Saturday jointly rejected the delimitation panel report as “highly objectionable, biased and politically motivated” and called for an emergency meeting in Jammu on Monday.

However, many Gujjar and Bakerwal organisations welcomed the reservation of nine assembly seats for Scheduled Tributes (STs) and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for it.

The delimitation panel on Jammu and Kashmir, formed in March 2020, on Thursday notified its final report giving six additional assembly seats to the Jammu region and one to the Kashmir Valley and bringing areas of Rajouri and Poonch under the Anantnag parliamentary seat. The Jammu division will now have 43 assembly seats and the Kashmir division 47 in the 90-member house.

Jammu-based All Parties United Morcha, comprising Congress, National Conference, CPI(M), CPI besides social organisations, rejected the final report, claiming it is highly partisan, motivated and against all basic norms of delimitation like contiguity, connectivity, population, physical feature and public convenience. “The commission has totally ignored the ground realities and neglected the convenience and aspirations of the people of different areas,” the APUM statement said.

It claimed the exercise of the commission was an “eyewash” as the report was prepared at the “behest” of the ruling BJP. The APUM has called for an emergency meeting on Monday to discuss the situation emerging after the “highly objectionable” report, it said, appealing to like-minded parties and organisations to come together to raise voice against the report.