Poll process on: Delimitation Commission to visit J&K from July 6

The Delimitation Commission will visit Jammu and Kashmir to interact with political leaders and officials between July 6 and 9.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday said that the commission would undertake a four-day visit to the Union Territory (UT) to gather ‘first hand’ inputs on the conduct of the mega exercise to carve out new constituencies there.

The decision was taken after a meeting was held on Wednesday at the headquarters of the poll panel here that was chaired by Delimitation Commission chairperson Justice (Retd.) Ranjana Prakash Desai and Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sushil Chandra.

“During the visit period, the commission will interact with political parties, public representatives and Union Territory administration officials including district election officers/deputy commissioners of 20 districts of the UT to gather first-hand information and input concerning the ongoing process of delimitation as mandated under the Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019,” an Election Commission (EC) spokesperson said.

“The commission,” the statement said, “expected that all stakeholders will cooperate in this endeavour and provide valuable suggestions so that the task of delimitation is completed timely.”

Also read: Delimitation and what it means for the people of Jammu and Kashmir

The spokesperson added that the Delimitation Commission already has had a series of meetings related to data/map of the districts/constituencies related to the 2011 Census.

“Earlier, it invited all associate members for interaction, which were participated by two of the associate members. A number of representations have also been received on various aspects concerning delimitation from civil societies and members of the public from the UT,” the spokesperson said. “The Delimitation 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,” he added.

The Commission, constituted in March last year with a one-year time frame to complete its task, is entrusted with redrawing the parliamentary and assembly constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir. It was given its first extension of one year by the Union government in March this year in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Also read: Statehood first, elections only then: J&K party leaders tell Centre

The visit of the Delimitation Commission comes after PM Narendra Modi held a meeting with leaders of mainstream political parties from Jammu and Kashmir last week where he stressed that the delimitation exercise has to happen quickly so that polls can be held in the UT.

During the visit, the members of the Delimitation Commission will hold talks with various political parties, their representatives and also the five associate members who are the five Lok Sabha MPs from the UT.

Of the mainstream parties, the National Conference, which has won all the three Lok Sabha seats from the Kashmir Valley, had earlier decided to stay away from the proceedings of the commission contending there was no need to redraw the constituencies at this stage. However, there are indications that the party is having a rethink and has recently authorised its president Farooq Abdullah to decide whether to participate in the deliberations of the commission.

The Prime Minister, during the June 24 meeting, had said the ongoing delimitation exercise in Jammu and Kashmir has to happen quickly so that polls can be held to install an elected government that gives strength to its development trajectory.

In a series of tweets after a three-and-a-half-hour-long meeting with 14 political leaders of Jammu and Kashmir, the Prime Minister said, “Our priority is to strengthen grassroots democracy in J&K. Delimitation has to happen at a quick pace so that polls can happen and J&K gets an elected government that gives strength to J&K’s development trajectory.”

The delimitation exercise has attained an urgency amid indications that the Centre is keen to hold early assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. There is speculation that the polls could be held in the next six to nine months.

During Wednesday’s meeting, the Delimitation Commission is understood to have reviewed the progress made so far, including the consultations held by it last week with all Deputy Commissioners of Jammu and Kashmir on the restructuring of the existing assembly constituencies and carving out seven new seats early this month.

At the meeting with the Deputy Commissioners on June 23, inputs were gathered on how to make the Assembly seats more geographically compact.

Once the delimitation exercise is completed, the number of Assembly seats in Jammu and Kashmir will go up from 83 to 90.