Delimitation Commission proposes six seats for Jammu, one for Kashmir

Ground Report | New Delhi: Delimitation Commission; The Delimitation Commission on Monday proposed six additional seats for the Jammu region and one for the Kashmir division. The committee, in its draft presented before the associate members, has proposed nine seats for the Scheduled Tribes and seven for the Scheduled Castes as well.

Delimitation Commission

According to reports, nine seats have been proposed for Scheduled Tribes (ST) and seven for Scheduled Castes (SC) in Jammu and Kashmir. It is to be noted that this is the first time that seats have been proposed in J&K under the ST category.

The commission's meeting was held in the national capital and was attended by five associate members - five Lok Sabha members from Jammu and Kashmir. He has been asked to respond to the proposal by the end of this month.

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The panel has also proposed nine seats for the Scheduled Tribes and seven for the Scheduled Castes. The commission has asked its associate members to submit their suggestions by December 31, 2021.

J&K parties reject Delimitation Commission's draft

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Mehbooba Mufti tweeted, "My apprehensions about the delimitation commission were not misplaced. They were trying to help people by ignoring the population census and proposing 6 seats for one region and only one for Kashmir. want to pit them against each other."

Soon the PDP released a video statement through the party's chief spokesperson Syed Suhail Bukhari, who while talking to the media said, "We have heard about the proposals that the Delimitation Commission has put forward for J&K. It only reflects what we have been saying for a long time. This has been done by the BJP and how can their party benefit from it.

Therefore the Commission has proposed 6 seats for Jammu and 1 seat for Kashmir, which is not justified in any way. The agenda of the BJP and today's government is to divide the people of Jammu and Kashmir on regional and religious lines. The commission has proved our party president Mehbooba Mufti right and we are rejecting this proposal.

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah said, “The delimitation motion is not acceptable. He wrote on his Twitter handle, "J&K Delimitation Commission's draft recommendation is unacceptable. Distribution of newly created assembly constituencies with 6 going to Jammu and only 1 going to Kashmir is not fair as per 2011 census data.

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In another tweet, he said, "It is extremely disappointing that the Commission has allowed the political agenda of the BJP to determine its recommendations instead of data, which should have been mere considerations. Contrary to the promised "scientific approach". It's a political point of view."

What is J&K’s delimitation commission?

The Delimitation commission or Boundary commission of India is a commission established by the Government of India under the provisions of the Delimitation Commission Act. The main task of the commission is redrawing the boundaries of the various assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies based on a recent census.

After delimitation under the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act 2019, the number of assembly seats in the state is to increase to seven seats and the total number of seats will reach 114. Of these, 24 seats will be reserved for Pakistan- administrated Jammu and Kashmir.

According to experts, out of the seven seats increasing after the delimitation, many seats can be reserved for the Scheduled Tribes. Currently, seven assembly seats in Jammu and Kashmir have been reserved for the Scheduled Castes, but not even one seat is reserved for the Scheduled Tribes.

In such a situation, there is a possibility of reservation of seats for the scheduled castes after the new delimitation. The leadership of the BJP also wants that there is the reservation of seats for the Scheduled Tribes. This will increase the number of seats in the Jammu division.

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