Delimitation Commission studying data to delimit constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir

The officials said the Commission could visit J&K most likely after by-elections to the vacant panchayats are over

The Delimitation Commission set up by the Central government to redraw parliamentary and assembly constituencies of Jammu and Kashmir has started the process and presently is studying data pertaining to electorates.

The Commission headed by Justice (Retired) Ranjana Prakash Desai could reserve a good number of seats for the scheduled tribes (STs), for the first time in J&K’s history, and increase one or two seats for the scheduled castes, officials privy to the development told DH.

While there was no political reservation for STs in J&K Assembly previously, eight seats had been reserved for SCs. STs have a sizable population in both Jammu and Kashmir regions but had been denied political reservations by the previous governments. This will be for the first time when they will get reservation in the UT Assembly.

“Though the Commission hasn’t visited J&K even once since its constitution in March this year, it has obtained data pertaining to total electorates in the union territory for analysis for delimitation of the Assembly constituencies,” they said and added the Commission is on the job and is operating from its New Delhi office.

The Commission has been mandated to delimit the constituencies of the UT in accordance with the provisions of Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019 and Delimitation Act, 2002, by the Union Ministry for Law and Justice on March 6 this year.

The erstwhile state of J&K had 87 seats in the assembly and six in Parliament, which got reduced to 83 and five, respectively, after it was bifurcated to make Ladakh a separate UT. So effectively, the seats will go up from 83 to 90 for J&K.