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| All eyes on Delimitation Commission | | | As the political activities in Jammu and Kashmir have restarted after the second wave of COVID-19 has relented, the focus has shifted on Delimitation Commission, which is busy redrawing the assembly and parliamentary constituencies in the newly carved out union territory.
The Delimitation Commission headed by Retired Supreme Court Judge Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai was constituted on March 6, 2020 for a period of one year to delimit the constituencies in J&K.
On March 4, the Union Ministry of law and justice issued a notification extending the tenure of the commission by one year. The commission’s term was coming to end on March 5, 2021.
According to the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019, the number of seats in the legislative assembly will increase to 114 from 107, with due reservations for SC and ST communities. The seven additional seats are expected to be ST seats.
Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act says that the number of seats in the Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir would be increased from 107 to 114 including 24 seats which are reserved for Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) while the election will be held for 90 seats.
Before August 5, 2019, the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir had 111 seats including 24 reserved for PoK, and elections were held for 87 seats. With the creation of Ladakh as Union Territory, four seats of the region were reduced and the Assembly was left with 83 seats. In the previous Assembly, Kashmir had 46 seats, Jammu 37, and Ladakh four.
After the delimitation process is completed, Jammu region would be brought at par with Kashmir and will get almost equal number of assembly seats. Since 1947, Kashmiri leaders have not allowed any Dogra from Jammu to become chief minister of J&K. The difference in number of assembly seats had always remained an issue which the politicians from Kashmir used to encash.
It’s clear that Kashmir based politicians won’t be able to call the shots and chances about a leader from Jammu region heading the UT look bright.
The Delimitation Commission has been asked to expedite the process of redrawing the constituencies so that assembly elections could be held. After August5, 2019—when the Centre announced its decision to abrogate J&K’s special status and bifurcated it into two union territories—political scenario in the Valley has changed as the wings of Kashmir centric leaders have been clipped. One hopes that the Centre abides by its commitment to empower Jammu region and doesn’t allow Kashmir based leaders to once again create confusion and chaos. |
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