New Delhi: The Union Home Ministry headed by Amit Shah is considering the delimitation of Assembly seats in Jammu and Kashmir based on the population of the respective regions. However, National Conference leader, Omar Abdullah has come out in protest against it and said that his party will oppose it “tooth and nail”.
The Home Ministry is seriously planning to appoint a delimitation commission to study the various constituencies and come up with recommendations.
However, Jammu and Kashmir activist Sushil Pandit said that the move is a “correct decision” by the Central government.
He said, “It is a correct decision. There are around 65,000 people in every Assembly constituency in Jammu, while Kashmir has only 42,000-43,000 people. Based on this, there should be more Assembly seats in Jammu. Also, there should be more seats in Leh and Ladakh.”
The delimitation will redraw the constituencies based on its population and determining the number of seats to be reserved for Scheduled Castes. The Jammu province has long suffered a regional disparity because of lack of delimitation which will increase the number of seats in Jammu. It will also provide representation to all reserved categories in the assembly.
Meanwhile, the National Conference leader, Omar Abdullah, tweeted that his party will oppose the move of the government.
“When delimitation takes place in the rest of the country, the BJP is welcome to apply it to J&K until then we in the @JKNC_will oppose, tooth & nail, any attempt to make changes without a mandate from the people of the state.”
PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti also opposed the move and said she was “distressed” to hear about the plans.
After assuming office, Amit Shah, had a closed door meeting with Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Satyapal Malik and also Intelligence Bureau Director, Rajiv Jain, and Home Secretary, Rajiv Gauba to discuss the issues of the State.
