Delimitation commission to visit J&K to meet all parties from July 6-9

NEW DELHI: Days after the Prime Minister sought the cooperation of all J&K political parties in the early completion of delimitation exercise in the UT, the Delimitation Commission has announced a four-day visit to J&K from July 4 to 9 to hear the political parties, public representatives and UT administration officials including deputy commissioners of all 20 districts, on all matters relating to delimitation.
The purpose of the discussions will be to gather first-hand information and inputs concerning the ongoing process of delimitation, as mandated under the Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation Act 2019, the panel said in a press note on Wednesday.
“The commission expects that all stakeholders will cooperate in this endeavour and will provide valuable suggestions so that the task of delimitation is completed timely,” it stated.
The PM had, at the all-party meeting on J&K held on June 24, emphasized that early completion of the delimitation process was crucial to the timely conduct of assembly polls in the state.
The Delimitation Commission, whose original one-year tenure was extended by another year in March 2021, is headed by Justice (Retd) Ranjana Prakash Desai with chief election commissioner Sushil Chandra and head of the J&K state election commission as its ex-officio members.
The panel has so far conducted a series of meetings related to data and map of the districts/constituencies related to Census 2011. It also held its first meeting with associate members – only MPs from parliamentary constituencies of J&K, as there is no assembly in place in the UT – in February this year. However, the National Conference MPs had absented themselves from the meeting.
With the prime minister now himself reaching out to the J&K mainstream parties, including National Conference, seeking their participation in the delimitation process, the NC is almost certain to reconsider its stand and be part of future meetings of associate members.
Sources said the views of political parties who, owing to lack of representation in the Lok Sabha cannot have a say through associate members in Delimitation Commission, are being sought to ensure that all shades of the political opinion are included in the consultation process for redrawing the constituency map of J&K.
A Delimitation Commission release on Wednesday said the panel has received a number of representations on various aspects concerning delimitation from civil societies and members of the public from the UT. “The Commission has already taken note of all such suggestions and directed that these may be deliberated further in the context of ground realities concerning delimitation,” it stated.