J&K Delimitation Commission puts proposals in public domain

After a long wait, the Delimitation Commission put its proposals on 90 Assembly constituencies and five parliamentary constituencies of Jammu and Kashmir union territory (UT) in public domain on Monday.

The draft proposals, recommending massive reconfiguration of J&K Assembly and parliamentary constituencies, have been put in public domain to elicit people’s response or opinion.

The panel has published the proposals in the Gazette of India and Gazette of J&K, together with dissenting proposals submitted by Members of Parliament (MPs) from National Conference (NC) and Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP).

The Commission has given the general public a week’s time to file their objections/suggestions. “Any objection/ suggestions in regard to these proposals should reach the secretary, Delimitation Commission, Nirvachan Sadan, Ashoka Road, New Delhi on or before the said date,” reads a notification issued by the Commission.

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Officials said the draft proposals put in public domain have complete data about the composition of Patwar and Tehsil halqas which, following redrawing of the boundaries, will be part of the proposed 90 seats of J&K Assembly.

Besides the draft, the suggestions and dissent reports submitted by its associate members from the NC and the BJP will also be made public.

Sources said the Commission after the completion of this exercise may visit J&K by the end of this month and meet the representatives of political parties and the public delegations separately to deliberate on its recommendations.

In the draft proposal discussed during its meeting in New Delhi with five associate members, the Commission had increased the number of Assembly seats in Jammu region from 37 to 43 while in Kashmir the tally had been increased from 46 to 47.

Political parties in Kashmir in one voice have rejected the Commission’s proposal to increase the number of Assembly seats in Jammu region by six against one in the Valley.

The Commission, headed by Justice (Retired) Ranjana Prakash Desai, was 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, 2020.

However, with little work in a year, its term was extended by another year in March 2021. Again the term of the panel was extended by two months till May 6, 2022 as the final report could not be submitted in time.

The ongoing delimitation exercise has taken centrestage in J&K’s frozen politics as both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have several times in the past stated that Assembly polls in the UT will be held only after the completion of delimitation.

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