J&K delimitation commission redraws some of its draft proposals

The delimitation commission has accepted some suggestions and rejected others submitted by associate members including the BJP and the National Conference and redrawn some of its draft proposals.

The associate members have been asked to submit their response by March 4 after which the final draft would be put in the public domain.

The government has extended the term of the Delimitation Commission by two months and it has up to May 6 to submit its recommendations for delimitation of 90 Assembly constituencies in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It has already given 47 seats to the Kashmir division and 43 to the Jammu region.

Also Read | J&K Delimitation report: Whose purpose does it serve?

Headed by Justice (Retired) Ranjana Prakash Desai, the Commission comprises Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sushil Chandra and State Election Commissioner (SEC) K.K. Sharma. It was set up on March 6, 2020.

Following the redrawn draft proposals, the commission has opened the Poonch Assembly segment and instead reserved Rajouri for Scheduled Tribes (STs) and merged parts of RS Pura with Jammu South seat to rename it as RS Pura-JS (Jammu South) while restoring Suchetgarh and Habbakadal constituencies.

Suchetgarh has been reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs).

The commission has also redrawn boundaries of several other Assembly segments including Poonch, Mendhar, Surankote, Thanna Mandi, Rajouri, Banihal, Marh, Jammu North etc and reversed the name of Mughal Maidaan seat of Kishtwar as Inderwal.

Commission sources said that the BJP's suggestion for the inclusion of Shopian in the Anantnag-Poonch Parliamentary constituency has been rejected. It has also rejected the NC objection to the inclusion of Poonch district and parts of Rajouri district in the South Kashmir Parliamentary segment.

The commission accepted the BJP suggestion for the de-reservation of at least one Assembly seat in Poonch district as all three constituencies there were reserved for Scheduled Tribes. Poonch-Mandi constituency has been de-reserved and declared as a general seat.

In place of Poonch, the Rajouri Main Assembly constituency has been reserved for the Scheduled Tribes (STs).

Also Read | Withdraw draft proposals for demarcation of constituencies: NC to Delimitation Commission

Now, five seats reserved for STs in the Jammu region are Surankote and Mendhar in Poonch district and Rajouri, Darhal and Thanna Mandi in Rajouri district. Four seats are reserved for STs in the Kashmir division, totalling nine.

The commission has restored the Suchetgarh Assembly constituency in the Jammu district which had been merged in RS Pura and Bishnah in the draft report submitted to five Associate Members on February 4.

Suchetgarh seat has been restored and reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs) in place of RS Pura.

Parts of RS Pura have been merged with Jammu South Assembly seat (earlier known as Gandhi Nagar or Cantonment) and the segment now has been renamed as RS Pura-Jammu South (RS Pura-JS).

Earlier, RS Pura was reserved for SCs. RS Pura-JS is now an open seat and Suchetgarh is the seventh constituency reserved for SCs. Six others are Marh, Akhnoor, Bishnah, Samba, Kathua South and Ramnagar.

Boundaries of Suchetgarh and RS Pura-JS have been readjusted by the Panel.

The Delimitation Commission is understood to have acceded to the suggestion of both the National Conference and the BJP to restore the Habbakadal Assembly constituency in Srinagar district which has sizeable electorates of Kashmiri Pandits and rename Mughal Maidaan seat in Kishtwar district as Inderwal.

The constituency was earlier also known as Inderwal and had been named Mughal Maidaan in the draft report.

Kot Patwar Circle of Raipur Domana whose four Panchayats had been clubbed with Marh (SC Reserve) seat in the draft report have now been merged with the Jammu North Assembly constituency.

Doongi, Suhana, Bagla and Fatehpur Panchayats which were part of the newly created Thanna Mandi Assembly segment in the Rajouri district have been clubbed with the Rajouri Assembly seat as they were part of Rajouri tehsil.

Poonch Patwar Halqas of Mandi block which had been included in the Surankote constituency in the draft report has again been made part of the Poonch-Mandi segment. Similarly, some Halqas of Mendhar segment which was incorporated in Surankote has been reversed to Mendhar.

Sangaldan area has now been included in Banihal Assembly seat of Ramban district while Tangar belt of Banihal has been shifted to Ramban seat.

The Commission is likely to meet five Associate Members and brief them about their suggestions/objections which have been accepted or rejected.

After the meeting, the commission will put its report in the public domain for inviting claims and objections.

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