J&K: Delimitation panel redraws electoral map

In the draft paper, the Commission has proposed changes in Baramulla, Kupwara, Srinagar, Kulgam and Anantnag districts of the Kashmir division.

While Kupwara is the only district in the Valley where a constituency is being added, changes have been proposed to other existing constituencies as well. The new seat of Trehgam has been created to include Keran, parts of Kralpora tehsil among others.

In Baramulla, while the Assembly segments remain at five, Kunzer and Tangmarg constituencies have been carved out by splitting Gulmarg and merging the Sangrama constituency.

Sangrama and Gulmarg constituencies, which went to the PDP in the 2014 Assembly elections, now cease to exist, according to the delimitation draft.

In south Kashmir, the Shangus tehsil has been split between Anantnag East and Larnoo constituencies. Kokernag, a constituency previously held by the PDP, has also been split between Dooru and Larnoo. Dooru is considered a Congress stronghold.

Kulgam will have three as against four seats earlier with areas within the current Hom Shali Bugh constituency being included under Devsar, according to the draft.

Srinagar district will now have a separate constituency in Chhanpora area. Several constituencies of the district are being redrawn to create this constituency.

(A PTI report quoted unnamed officials saying the report has proposed redrawing of the Anantnag Parliamentary seat by including Rajouri and Poonch from the Jammu region, besides carrying out massive changes in the Kashmir division.)

In December last year, the Commission, comprising retired Supreme Court judge Justice Ranjana Desai, Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra and J&K Election Commissioner K K Sharma, proposed seven additional Assembly seats — six in Jammu division and one in Kashmir Valley.

For the first time, the Commission proposed reserving nine seats for Scheduled Tribes (STs) on the basis of population. Seven seats were proposed for the Scheduled Castes (SCs).

Once these proposed additions are effected, the total number of Assembly constituencies in J&K will rise to 90 — in Jammu, the number of seats will go up to 43 from 37, and in Kashmir, by one seat to 47.

An additional 24 seats are proposed to be reserved for Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Of the seven additional Assembly constituencies in the Union Territory, one each was proposed in the districts of Kathua, Samba, Rajouri, Reasi, Doda and Kishtwar in Jammu division, and Kupwara in the Kashmir Valley.

The Commission said it proposed carving out an additional constituency in some districts to balance the representation for geographical areas with inadequate communication and lack of public conveniences given their excessive remoteness or inhospitable conditions on the international border.

The December meeting saw the participation of all five MPs – Farooq Abdullah, Hasnain Masoodi and Mohammad Akbar Lone (NC) and Jitendra Singh and Jugal Kishore Sharma (BJP).

The NC MPs, who stayed away from the first meeting of the Commission on February 18, 2021, had rejected the draft proposal of the Commission, saying it was “biased” against Kashmir and, therefore, unacceptable.