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After the delimitation Commission on Jammu and Kashmir had proposed six additional assembly seats for Jammu region and one for Kashmir while reserving 16 constituencies for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, the proposal was rejected by National Conference, PDP, J&K Apni Party, People’s Conference.
Farooq Abdullah, who is also the chairman of the five-party People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), said after the meeting that he would brief the grouping as well as his party colleagues of the deliberations of the commission.
“We attended the meeting for the first time because we wanted the voice of people of Jammu and Kashmir to be heard. The meeting took place in cordial manner and we all were explained the method adopted for coming to the conclusion,” Abdullah said.
NC vice president Omar Abdullah tweeted , The draft recommendation of the J&K delimitation commission is unacceptable. The distribution of newly created assembly constituencies with 6 going to Jammu & only 1 to Kashmir is not justified by the data of the 2011 census..
The draft recommendation of the J&K delimitation commission is unacceptable. The distribution of newly created assembly constituencies with 6 going to Jammu & only 1 to Kashmir is not justified by the data of the 2011 census.
— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) December 20, 2021
‘Contrary to the promised ‘scientific approach’, it’s a political approach,’ he said. The Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party, headed by former minister Altaf Bukahri, also rejected the proposal.
‘This is outright unacceptable to us. Apni Party demands a fair delimitation exercise without any bias, taking population and districts as the base,’ it said.
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said the commission has been ‘created simply to serve BJP’s political interests by dividing people along religious and regional lines. The real game plan is to install a government in J-K which will legitimise the illegal and unconstitutional decisions of August 2019’.
This commision has been created simply to serve BJPs political interests by dividing people along religious & regional lines. The real game plan is to install a government in J&K which will legitimise the illegal & unconstitutional decisions of August 2019.
— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) December 20, 2021
My apprehensions about the Delimitation Commission werent misplaced. They want to pitch people against each other by ignoring the population census & preposing 6 seats for one region & only one for Kashmir. https://t.co/Dbs1Mny3iE
— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) December 20, 2021
She was referring to the government’s decisions of abrogating J-K’s special status under Article 370 and bifurcating it into union territories.
People’s Conference chief Sajjad Lone said the recommendations were totally unacceptable.
‘They reek of bias. What a shock for those who believe in democracy,’ he tweeted.
The recommendations of the delimitation commission are totally unacceptable. They reek of bias. What a shock for those who believe in democracy.
— Sajad Lone (@sajadlone) December 20, 2021
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during a meeting with J-K leaders in June, had said the ongoing delimitation exercise has to happen quickly so that polls can be held to install an elected government that gives strength to its development trajectory.
