NC to stay away from delimitation exercise in J&K

National Conference (NC) has refused to be part of the Delimitation Commission (DC) set up by the Centre earlier this year to redraw the Lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies in the Union Territory (UT) and the northeastern states of Assam, Arunachal

Pradesh, Nagaland.

Former chief minister and NC president Farooq Abdullah and his party colleagues Hasnain Masoodi and Muhammad Akbar Lone are among five MPs from J&K who were on Thursday nominated as associate members of the commission by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.

Manipur and

BJP MPs Jitendra Singh and Jugal Kishore Sharma are the two others nominated to the panel constituted under the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019 and Delimitation Commission Act, 2002.

However, the NC which is the oldest political party of J&K and which had earlier challenged the J&K Reorganisation Act, which facilitates delimitation of Assembly segments in the UT in the Supreme Court said on Friday that it rejects this process and, therefore, its three MPs nominated to the panel will not be part of it.

“This delimitation commission is a product of the J&K Reorganisation Act 2019 which the NC is challenging in and outside Hon’ble SC.

Participating in this commission will tantamount to accepting the events of the 5th August 2019 which the NC is unwilling to do,” a statement issued by the party here said.

It pointed out that, as per the Constitution of J&K, the constituencies of erstwhile state were to be delimited in 2026 with rest of the country.

The constituencies in the state were last delimited in 1990s. Subsequently, an amendment was made in the J&K’s Constitution, through a resolution unanimously passed in the state Assembly by the members of all the regional parties besides Congress and BJP, the party said, adding “Therefore, the constitution of the delimitation panel is unwarranted.”