Delimitation Draft proposes 6 seats for Jammu & 1 for Kashmir

The first draft of the Delimitation Commission has raised the political hue and cry in the Jammu and Kashmir. It has proposed six  assembly seats to be added in the Jammu division and one in the Kashmir division' If the proposal goes through, it will take the total seats in Jammu region from existing 37 to 43, while Kashmir will have one additional seat, taking its tally to 47 seats from 46. The draft by the union government's Delimitation Commission was distributed among five MPs from Jammu and Kashmir who are associate members of the body during its meeting in New Delhi on Monday and was reportedly rejected by all political parties in Kashmir who have termed it biased and unacceptable.National Conference President and MP Farooq Abdullah who attended the meeting confirmed the draft proposal and said that the party will respond to it via a formal communique on December 31.

The draft recommendation of the J&K delimitation commission is unacceptable. The distribution of newly created assembly constituencies with 6 going to Jammu & only 1 to Kashmir is not justified by the data of the 2011 census.

— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) December 20, 2021

According to the mandate of the commission, the delimitation exercise was based on the 2011 census and population is the sole criteria for redrawing assembly seats.  Once the delimitation exercise carves out new assembly constituencies, seats in Kashmir will have a population ratio of 1.46 lakh against 1.25 lakh in Jammu province. The Commission is headed by a retired Supreme Court judge and includes the Chief Election Commissioner or Election Commissioner and state election commissioners. Five MPs from Jammu and Kashmir are associate members, but their recommendations are not binding on the Commission. The last redrawing was in 1995 and based on the 1981 census. There was no census in the state in 1991. And after the 2001 census, the J&K assembly passed a law putting on hold delimitation till 2026.

According to the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act of 2019, the new legislature in J&K will have 90 seats, seven more than the previous assembly, after the constituencies are demarcated afresh. The last delimitation was held in 1994-1995 when the former state was under President's Rule; the number of seats in the J&K assembly was increased from 76 to 87. Seats in Jammu went up from 32 to 37 and in Kashmir, from 42 to 46 seats. In 2002, the process was put on freeze till 2026 by the National Conference government, on the heels of the NDA government at the Centre. It was decided by parliament that a Delimitation Commission will be set up after 2026 to decide on the redrawing of Lok Sabha constituencies across the country.

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