E-Paper
Delimitation in J-K is BJP’s exercise to divide communities, says Mehbooba Mufti
The delimitation commission for the union territory was formed by the Centre on March 6 last year, just six months after Jammu and Kashmir' special status was revoked.
Jammu and Kashmir’s former chief minister and People’s Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday alleged that the delimitation exercise in the union territory was a part of Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) plan to divide communities and religions and pit them against each other.
Mufti raised apprehensions at the hurry in carrying out the delimitation in Jammu and Kashmir.
“The tearing hurry with which GOI is railroading delimitation in J&K has raised genuine & serious apprehensions about the motives of this exercise. It’s a part of BJPs larger plan to divide & pit regions, religions & communities against each other,” she said in a tweet.
The delimitation commission for the union territory was formed by the Union government on March 6 last year, just six months after the special status of Jammu and Kashmir was revoked and the erstwhile state split into two union territories – J-K with a legislative assembly and Ladakh without one. Earlier the delimitation of the constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir was scheduled to be held in 2026. However following the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019, the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act increased the number of voting constituencies for J&K from 87 to 90.
Justice (retired) Ranjana Prakash Desai is the chairperson of the Commission while Election Commissioner Subash Chandra and State Election Commissioner KK Sharma are its members.
The commission has five associate members including three National Conference MPs and two BJP leaders - Union Minister Jitendra Singh and Jammu MP Jugal Kishore. Of the five, three member parliaments (MPs) from National Conference (NC) – Farooq Abdullah, Akbar Lone and Hasnain Masoodi have already announced to dissociate from the exercise on the grounds that the J&K Reorganization Act 2019 is under scrutiny in the Supreme Court.
In a letter to the commission chairperson after being called for a meeting scheduled on Thursday, the NC members had written that “it would not be in tune with the mandate and spirit of the constitution of India to associate with the proceedings taken in exercise of the powers under an Act, the constitutional validity whereof is under challenge…”.
They also wanted the commission not to go ahead with the exercise. “We would also respectfully request the honorable chairperson, a renowned legal luminary of the country, not to go ahead with the proceedings…,” the letter said.
