New Delhi/Srinagar, 25 June 2021: After meeting 14 leaders of political parties in Jammu and Kashmir, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has termed delimitation as necessary in the newly formed Union Territory.
“Our priority is to strengthen democracy on the grassroot in Jammu and Kashmir. For this, delimitation needs to be done expeditiously so that elections can be held and Jammu and Kashmir can get an elected Government. This will also accelerate development,” PM tweeted.
Even before the meeting, there was speculation that the Modi government could put up a delimitation agenda. The Delimitation Commission has already been constituted by the Government and has started a survey of the newly formed Union Territory.
Delimitation of Assembly and Lok Sabha seats is done from time to time on the basis of population. Under this, the constituency of Assembly and Lok Sabha seats is reconstituted according to population and area. This is done by the Delimitation Commission and its decision cannot be challenged in any court. This is done on the basis of the latest census data so that the distribution of all seats is viable. Apart from the area of seats, it sometimes changes the assembly or Lok Sabha seats in the state.
The Lok Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir have undergone delimitation with the entire country, but the delimitation of assembly seats was last done in 1995. This was because, with Article 370 in force, the delimitation of the state assembly was decided under the state constitution. On the other hand, the Indian Constitution was applicable for the delimitation of Lok Sabha seats. In Jammu and Kashmir, assembly seats were delimited thrice since independence in 1963, 1973 and 1995.
The last time the delimitation took place was in 1995, there was a Governor’s Rule in the State and it was done on the basis of census data of 1981. The State did not have a census in 1991 and then there was no delimitation after the 2001 Census. Even a proposal was approved by the Assembly, which sought a stay on delimitation till 2026.
The Supreme Court had also upheld the decision to stay the delimitation of assembly seats in the state. But now, after the removal of Article 370 on 5th August 2019 and the reorganisation of the State, new rules are in force and delimitation can be done by the Central Government at any time. There were a total of 111 assembly seats before the reorganisation of the state, out of which 46 were held by Kashmir and 37 were held by Jammu. Ladakh used to have 4 seats.
In addition, 24 seats were reserved for PoK. Several political parties including BJP have been objecting to the sharing of assembly seats. He said that it covers fewer seats in Jammu, while the population is more than that of Kashmir. Therefore, it is now being said that after the new delimitation, there may be more seats in Jammu than in Kashmir.
The Commission for Delimitation was constituted by the Central Government on 6th March 2020 in Jammu and Kashmir. It is headed by retired Supreme Court Judge Ranjana Prakash Desai. The Commission was given one year’s time for delimitation, but it has been extended by another year due to the Corona crisis. According to the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill, the Union Territory in the state may have 107 to 114 seats. It is believed that the Jammu region will benefit.
Besides Desai, Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra, Jammu and Kashmir Election Commissioner KK Sharma have been included in the Commission. In addition, there are 5 Associate Members in the Commission. These include Farooq Abdullah, Mohammad Akbar Lone, Hasnain Masoodi, Union Minister Jitendra Singh and BJP leader Jugal Kishore Sharma.