Delimitation Commission's Proposal to add 6 Seats to Jammu, 1 to Kashmir Sparks row

Srinagar: The proposal of Delimitation Commission to add six new constituency seats to Jammu province and one seat to Kashmir division has sparked a controversy in the region. Most political parties have rejected the draft as “biased” and “unacceptable”.

The first draft by the union Delimitation Commission, which was constituted for redrawing Assembly seats in the union territory, was shared on Monday following a meeting which the five Member of Parliament (MP) from J&K, including former chief minister Dr Farooq Abdullah attended.

In its first paper, the proposal also suggested nine seats for Schedule Tribe (ST) and seven for Schedule Caste (SC) reservation in the UT. The commission members, however, have so far not specified the places and areas, where and to whom these nine seats will be given.

A statement from the Commission chaired by Justice (Retd.) Mrs. Ranjana Prakash Desai said the draft that described the proposed seat allocation was shared at the level of districts with all the members to receive their views and suggestions by December 31.

“The Commission has also, for some districts, proposed carving out of an additional Constituency to balance the representation for geographical areas having inadequate communication and lack of public conveniences due to their inhospitable conditions on the international border,” the panel’s statement read.

The suggestions, however, has stirred a row in Jammu and Kashmir among the Kashmir-based parties with National Conference (NC) members, who had earlier called for the boycott of the commission, also drawing flak for attending the meeting. They had earlier indicated participation in the exercise would mean accepting the changes on August 5, 2019 when J&K lost its ‘special status’; the NC and others have been advocating the status should be restored. The commission, NC claimed back then, was being conducted under the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act- 2019 whose legality stands challenged in the Supreme Court.

“The Commission has come out with a document that is objectively prepared. All associated members regardless of parties appreciated work done by Delimitation Commission. NC members were also satisfied by parametres followed by the Commission,” Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh was quoted as saying.

Singh’s remarks were refuted by NC spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar who said that the party leaders put forth their resentment and will not be signatories to the porposal.

“In its current form, we do not accept this report. We have reiterated our demands that the parameters should be followed based on population. The report that has come today reeks of bias. It is totally unacceptable and our party leaders have expressed their resentment,” Dar said.

The commission members said that they have prepared the draft based on the 2011 Census, according to which Kashmir's population is more than 68 lakh against 53 lakh in Jammu. The NC has raised objections over the usage of the 2011 Census, calling it “unconstitutional”. But, even that means Kashmir would get more seats added than Jammu.

According to the reorganisation, the number of Assembly seats in J&K would increase from 83 to 90. Earlier, J&K had 87 assembly constituencies of which Kashmir had 46 seats and Jammu had 37 seats. The remaining four seats were part of Ladakh, which has since been carved as a separate union territory on August 5, 2019. There are also 24 other seats which are reserved for Pakistan-Administered Kashmir. With the new proposed arrangement, Kashmir will have 47 seats and Jammu will have 43 seats.

This delimitation exercise, many argue, is being done to give Jammu an upper hand over Kashmir as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is more prominently placed in the former, especially in its Hindu dominated areas.

The BJP-led central government has been consistently pressing for the delimitation exercise to be carried first in the region despite opposition following which they have indicated elections will be held. Only after that, there will likely be a discussion over the statehood demand of regional stakeholders.

Terming the draft recommendation of the Delimitation Commission as divisive and unacceptable, CPI(M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami on Monday said it was another step to further politically dis-empower Kashmiris.

“The constitution of Delimitation Commission under J&K Reorganisation Act-2019 in itself is questionable as the Reorganisation Act has been challenged in the Supreme Court. The constitution of Delimitation Commission was akin to contempt of the court as how can the government of India do so when the matter is sub-judice,” he said.

The CPI(M) had in August moved an application in the Supreme Court for early hearing of the writ petition filed in 2019 against what it called an “unconstitutional and undemocratic” revocation of special status of J&K under Article 370 and J&K Reorganisation Act-2019.

The Jammu And Kashmir People's Conference President, Sajad Lone on Monday hit out at Delimitation Commission for their proposal and said that it was a kind of “shock” for those who believed in democracy.

"The recommendations of the delimitation commission are totally unacceptable. They reek of bias. What a shock for those who believe in democracy," he tweeted.

Similarly, former chief minister and president of the People’s Democratic Party Mehbooba Mufti said that her apprehensions about the Delimitation Commission were not “misplaced.”

“They want to pitch people against each other by ignoring the population census & preposing 6 seats for one region & only one for Kashmir. This commision has been created simply to serve BJPs political interests by dividing people along religious & regional lines. The real game plan is to install a government in J&K which will legitimise the illegal & unconstitutional decisions of August 2019 [sic],” she tweeted.