JOIN USDelimitation Commission interacts with J&K political parties
On its first day of four day-visit to Jammu and Kashmir, the Delimitation Commission on Tuesday interacted with political leaders to gather first-hand inputs to carve out new assembly constituencies in the Union Territory (UT).
During their visit, the Commission, headed by Justice (retd) Ranjana Prakash Desai, will interact with administrative officials, political parties, people’s representatives, and other stakeholders.
In a significant move, all J&K-based political parties, with the sole exception of the PDP had meetings with the Commission, which besides Desai, includes Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sushil Chandra, and Deputy Election Commissioner Chandra Bhushan.
The representatives of BJP, Congress, National Conference, CPM, CPI, Peoples Conference, Panthers Party and Bhujan Samjwadi Party were allotted 20-minutes each for briefing the visiting delegation about their point of view on the delimitation exercise, officials said. During the visit, the Commission will also be interacting with deputy commissioners (DCs) to gain a sense of Assembly seats.
The NC, Congress and CPI (M) after meeting the visiting Commission said they urged it to carry out the exercise of redrawing the electoral constituencies in a free, fair and transparent manner so that the unity and integrity of the UT is safeguarded.
The three parties submitted separate memoranda to the Commission outlining their concerns and demands related to the exercise, saying it be carried out only after J&K is granted statehood again.
NC leader Nasir Wani said the party urged the panel to restore the “lost faith” of people in institutions and it was for the Commission to try and restore this confidence.
The Congress delegation in its memorandum said the delimitation process will be rendered “nugatory” if held before the restoration of statehood to J&K.
The Commission is also likely to hold separate meetings with civil society groups and similar organisations after they obtain prior approval and are allotted time slots by respective deputy DCs.
The visit of the panel assumes significance as it has come less than two weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired an all-party meeting in New Delhi on Jammu and Kashmir. After the meeting, also attended by the Union Home Minister Amit Shah, it emerged that the delimitation exercise was a first step towards restoration of democratic process in the UT.
Once the delimitation exercise is completed, the number of assembly seats in Jammu and Kashmir will go up from 83 to 90.