Kashmir share dips in new J&K election map
Term the exercise an attempt to disempower the people in the Valley politically
NEW DELHI/JAMMU: A panel redrawing poll constituencies in Jammu & Kashmir finalised the Union territory’s new electoral map on Thursday, concluding the controversial exercise and paving the way for elections in the region for the first time since its special status was scrapped.
The three-member delimitation commission issued its final order, earmarking 43 seats to the Hindu-majority Jammu region and 47 to Muslim-majority Kashmir – making up a total of 90 seats for the Union territory’s assembly, up from the current strength of 83. Out of the seven new seats added, six were allotted to Jammu and one to Kashmir. Earlier Jammu had 37 seats and Kashmir 46. This brings the Kashmir representation down to 52.2% from 55.4% of the total seats, and takes the Jammu representation up to 47.8% from 44.6%. The exercise was carried out on the basis of 2011 Census, which put the population of J&K at 12.5 million, with 56.2% in Kashmir and 43.8% in Jammu.
For the first time, the panel reserved nine seats for scheduled tribes, reorganised some Lok Sabha constituencies while keeping their total number at five, renamed some assembly constituencies, and redrew some others. All Lok Sabha constituencies now comprise 18 assembly segments each. It also recommended that members be nominated from Kashmiri migrant communities, which primarily comprises Kashmiri Pandits who were displaced at the peak of militancy in the 1990s.
“It was ensured by the commission that every assembly constituency shall be contained entirely in one district and the lowest administrative units i.e. patwar circles (and wards in Jammu Municipal Corporation) were not broken and were kept in a single assembly constituency,” said the panel.
The panel’s order, which came after 26 months of deliberation and was notified by the Union government on Thursday, was opposed by several political parties in Kashmir who said that the BJP and its proxies will be punished by voters whenever elections are held. In a tweet, the National Conference (NC) said it was studying the impact of the commission report on individual assembly segments in the UT but “no amount of gerrymandering will change the ground reality”.
“We are studying the implications of these recommendations for individual assembly constituencies,” NC tweeted. “No amount of gerrymandering will change the ground reality which is that whenever elections are held the voter will punish the BJP & its proxies for what they have done to J&K over the last 4 years,” it added.
J&K lost its special status and statehood on August 5, 2019, when the Centre moved to void Article 370 of the Constitution. At a landmark all-party meeting in June last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told leaders of political parties that statehood will be restored after fresh elections are held in the region, on the basis of the delimitation process.
But parties from the region, which remains bitterly opposed to the scrapping of its special status, want statehood to be restored before delimitation and elections – a demand rejected by the Centre. Assembly seats in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir were last redrawn in 1995, based on the 1981 Census.
JAMMU/SRINAGAR: The final report of the Jammu & Kashmir delimitation commission, which gave six additional seats to Jammu and one to Kashmir while redrawing poll constituencies, triggered mixed reactions in the region with Opposition parties rejecting the process and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) welcoming it.
Opposition parties in Jammu & Kashmir alleged the panel had “become an extension of the BJP”.
People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti dismissed the report, saying it had “ignored the basic parameter of population” and that her party has no faith in it.
“What delimitation are you talking about? That delimitation commission that has become an extension of the BJP? It has ignored the basic parameter of population and added or removed areas as per their wishes. We reject it, we have no faith in it,” Mufti told reporters after attending a function in Anantnag.
“The delimitation commission is part of the design under which Article 370 was abrogated. The aim is to reduce the powers of the people of Jammu & Kashmir and weaken them. This is another way to disempower people,” she added.
The delimitation commission, headed by former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai, earmarked 47 assembly seats for Kashmir and 43 for Jammu in its final order.
A gazette notification was issued after the panel signed the final order giving Jammu six additional seats and Kashmir one. The panel also reserved nine seats for scheduled tribes, a first, and reorganised some Lok Sabha constituencies while keeping their total number at five, renamed some assembly constituencies, and redrew some others.
People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) spokesperson and CPI (M) leader MY Tarigami said, “The Re-organisation Act modified the law of enfranchisement of J&K. Voting rights for the state assembly which were restricted to only permanent residents have been extended to non-state subjects also. The exercise is bound to disempower the people of Jammu and Kashmir in the long run.”
The National Conference (NC) said it was studying the impact of the commission’s report on individual assembly segments in the Union Territory.
“We have seen the final recommendations of the delimitation commission. We are studying the implications of these recommendations for individual assembly constituencies,” NC chief spokesman Tanvir Sadiq said. “No amount of gerrymandering will change the ground reality which is that whenever elections are held the voter will punish the BJP & its proxies for what they have done to J&K over the last 4 years,” he added.
J&K Congress chief spokesperson and former MLA Ravinder Sharma described the commission’s report as “BJP’S draft report”.
“Our apprehensions have come true. The commission has done a simple eye wash of hearing people before preparing the draft report which has now cleared all doubts and exposed the approach of the commission. The commission has neglected the fundamental principles and norms, ignored the aspirations of the people and did great injustice to different areas, segments and communities by ignoring topography, geography, connectivity, continuity, physical features and population, which are the basic norms of delimitation, aș per law,” JKPCC chief spokesperson Ravinder Sharma said.
“The commission has done the most unimaginable task of clubbing the border areas of Jammu region with Anantnag Lok Sabha, which is totally unjustified in view of the topography, terrain and connectivity between two regions. The commission was to do justice by correcting the gaps of the last commission but it has rather increased injustice and widened the gap of discrimination on various fronts,” he added.
BJP leader and former deputy chief minister Kavinder Gupta welcomed the final draft.
“Overall it is a good report and all parameters have been taken into consideration. The opposition time and again has raised questions against the report. May I ask them that when delimitation was conducted in 1996, why did the government decide to freeze it till 2026?” he said.
People’s Conference led by Sajad Gani Lone, who is seen as an ally of the BJP, accused NC of providing sanctity to the delimitation exercise after its MPS participated in the deliberations of the commission.
“The delimitation report is a repeat of the past. Same traditional entities are calling the shots behind the scenes. Kashmir has been discriminated against as in the past. No change. Only the degree of disempowerment is greater,” the party said in a statement on Twitter.