‘Reek of Bias’: Delimitation Panel Recommends 6 Additional Seats for Jammu, Only 1 for Kashmir

The commission has also proposed nine seats for Scheduled Tribes and seven seats for Scheduled Castes.

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SRINAGAR — The Delimitation Panel that met in New Delhi on Monday has proposed six additional seats for Jammu region and one for Kashmir division. This would take the total number of assembly seats in Jammu division to 43 and in Kashmir to 47.

The commission has also proposed nine seats for Scheduled Tribes and seven seats for Scheduled Castes.

Peoples Conference chairman, Sajjad Lone, has rejected the recommendations of the commission and has termed it unacceptable. “The recommendations of the delimitation commission are totally unacceptable. They reek of bias. What a shock for those who believe in democracy,” he tweeted.

The Commission meeting was attended by only one regional party, National Conference. Its delegation was led by party president, Dr Farooq Abdullah.

“National Conference (NC) leaders will attend the Delimitation Commission’s associate members meeting in New Delhi next week,” party MP, Hasnain Masoodi, said on December 18.

He, however, said, there was no shift in the party’s stand that the exercise “offends” the spirit of the Constitution.

“Seeing the overall scenario, the party has decided that its MPs will attend the meeting,” Mr. Masoodi, the MP from south Kashmir’s Anantnag, told PTI.

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and PDP president, Mehbooba Mufti, has said that she has no faith in the Delimitation Commission, alleging that it has been formed to “help the BJP”.

“It’s the BJP’s commission,’’ Mufti told reporters at a party function held in Rajouri in Jammu. “It has been formed to pit the majority community against the minority and further disempower the people.” 

The Commission is headed by Justice (Retired) Ranjana Prakash Desai while Chief Election Commissioner, Sushil Chandra, and the state election commissioner are members. Five MPs from J&K — three from the NC and two from the BJP — are associate members of the Commission.

The J&K Assembly had frozen the delimitation from 2001 to 2026. However, after the reading down of Article 370, the BJP ordered the formation of the Delimitation Commission. Delimitation in J&K was done in 1963, 1973, and 1995 when the state was under President’s Rule.

The NC had earlier said it would not cooperate with the Commission because the decision on the legality of the J&K Reorganisation Act 2019, under which it has been stepping up, is pending before the Supreme Court. However, the party has now decided to attend the December 20 meeting in Delhi.

The J&K Assembly, before the removal of Article 370, had 87 seats — 46 in Kashmir, 37 in Jammu and four in Ladakh. Two women members were nominated. The Assembly also had a legislative council whose members were nominated by the political parties, which ceased to exist after August 7, 2019.

After delimitation, the number of Assembly seats will increase to 90. Two women members will be nominated like before.

Jammu region is likely to get five seats while Kashmir gets two. That will narrow down the difference between the two regions from nine to five seats.