Kashmir share dips in new J&K election map
The Delimitation Commission, which was set up in March 2020 to redraw assembly and parliamentary constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir ( J& K), finalised its order on Thursday a day before its extended two-month tenure was due to end on Friday.
Elections in J&K, which has been without an elected government since June 2018, are expected after the delimitation process is over. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised the restoration of the region’s statehood after the elections. J&K was stripped of its statehood and divided into two union territories in August 2019 when the Centre also nullified Constitution’s Article 370 to end the region’s semi-autonomous status.
The Gazette notification for the order was also published on Thursday. The final delimitation order will come into effect from the date the Centre notifies it. As per the final order, out of the 90 assembly constituencies, 43 will be in the Jammu region and 47 in Kashmir. Nine constituencies—six in Jammu and three in Kashmir— have been reserved for Scheduled Tribes (STs) for the first time and seven for the Scheduled Castes ( SCs). The Constitution of the erstwhile state of J&K did not provide for the reservation of seats for STs in the assembly. Twenty-four seats for Pakistan- occupied Kashmir will continue to remain vacant.
The region will have five parliamentary constituencies. They include the one carved out by combining Anantnag in Kashmir and Rajouri and Poonch in the Jammu region.
Each parliamentary constituency will have an equal number of assembly seats—18.
The delimitation process was done on the basis of the 2011 census and the panel was given a one-year extension for it in 2021. Two more months were accorded to it in March this year. Earlier, there were 83 constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir--37 in Jammu and 46 in Kashmir.
Most parties in the region
opposed the scrapping of J& K’s special status. They demanded statehood before delimitation and elections. The Centre rejected the demand.
Retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai- led panel was assigned the task of redrawing the constituencies following the nullification of Article 370. It held meetings in Jammu and Srinagar and stuck to its proposal for six new constituencies in Jammu and one in the Kashmir Valley. Most political parties opposed the formula.
The panel’s associate members from the National Conference ( NC), including former
chief minister Farooq Abdullah, submitted a dissent note over it. The associate members were first presented with the formula in December.
Former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti-led People’s Democratic Party (PDP) boycotted the process alleging the panel was “serving” the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s interests.
NC, which distanced itself from the proceedings before re-joining it last year, argued the panel’s constitutionality is under scrutiny as a related case is pending before the Supreme Court.