A meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and 14 political leaders from the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir slated for Thursday has sparked speculations of a possible discussion on the issue of holding Assembly elections in the state for the first time since it was divested of its special status. A major sticking point would be the question of delimitation, a necessary precondition for elections to proceed.
National Conference leaders Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, and the Congress’s Ghulam Nabi Azad have been invited for the meeting, among others.
While delimitation is a routine exercise to apportion a certain population to a seat in a constituency, the state of Jammu and Kashmir poses specific hurdles in carrying out the exercise.
What is delimitation?
Delimitation is the act of redrawing the boundaries of a constituency that votes for a Lok Sabha seat on the basis of population change over a period of time. Delimitation is intended to level the playing field for political parties or candidates contesting elections and give every Assembly seat a fair share of votes. The process can also lead to a change in the overall number of seats that a state or union territory has in its Assembly or in the Lok Sabha.
The exercise is usually carried out every few years after a census to even out the number of voters for a seat. However, Jammu and Kashmir has not carried out a delimitation in over two decades, in accordance with a law passed by its state Assembly. The loss of the erstwhile state’s special status has changed that equation.
How is delimitation likely to be conducted in J&K?
A Delimitation Commission was set up in March last year, which is headed by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai, and includes an election commissioner along with the state election commissioner, as well as five associate members for Jammu and Kashmir. The commission’s work has been delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Under the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, the number of constituencies in the union territory are to be raised from 107 to 114, including 24 seats for Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) that remain vacant. In effect, excluding the PoK seats, the strength of the Assembly would become 90 as compared to 83 earlier.
What are the concerns?
A major concern for one faction is that the increase in the number of seats would dilute the political dominance of Muslim-majority Kashmir in favour of offering up more seats to Jammu. Others argue that Jammu has been underrepresented in the state for a long time.
A meeting was held in February this year, which three of the Delimitation Commission’s associate members—National Conference MPs Farooq Abdullah, Mohammad Akbar Lone and Hasnain Masoodi—did not attend on grounds that the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act’s constitutionality was yet to be decided by the Supreme Court.
However, there have been signs that the National Conference has slackened its stance and may be open to participate in the delimitation exercise and discuss the impending elections in the union territory.
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