Disempowers, biased: J&K parties oppose panel order

“The PDP, from Day 1, has maintained that the Delimitation Commission, even though a statutory body, has become an extension of the BJP’s agenda to disempower people from a particular community and region,” she told The Indian Express. “The Government of India has once again trampled upon the Constitution of this country by turning the electoral majority into a minority”.

“How it pans out is anybody’s guess. This is also laying the political foundation for demographic change, which has been the real design behind the
unconstitutional scrapping of Article 370,” she said.

“We have seen the final recommendations of the Delimitation Commission. We are studying the implications of these recommendations for individual Assembly constituencies,” said NC chief spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq. “No amount of gerrymandering will change the ground reality that whenever elections are held, the voter will punish the BJP and its proxies for what they have done to J&K over the last four years,” he said.

CPI(M) leader and spokesperson of the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), M Y Tarigami, said: “The Delimitation Commission has submitted its final report despite a Constitutional freeze on the increase or decrease of parliamentary or assembly seats. Though the Delimitation Commission was constituted under the Delimitation Act of 2002, it has re-drawn the constituencies in accordance with the provisions of the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019, which has been challenged in the Supreme Court.”

He said the Act had modified the law of enfranchisement in J&K. Voting rights for the State Assembly, which were restricted to only permanent residents, have been extended to non-state subjects also, he said. “The exercise is bound to disempower the people of J&K in the long run,” he said.

The Sajad Lone-led People’s Conference termed it as a “repeat of the past”, saying that Kashmir has been “discriminated against”, as in the past. “Over the last six decades, Kashmir’s share of Assembly seats in the J&K Assembly increased from 43 to 47, while Jammu’s share rose from 30 to 43. Who is responsible for the systematic disempowerment of Kashmiris from 1947? Those who aided and abetted in Jammu’s journey from 30 seats to 37 seats are the ones who aided and abetted its journey from 37 seats to 43 seats,” party spokesperson Adnan Ashraf said in a statement. The party said the “people-less process” was “essentially a tool for disempowerment of Kashmiris.”

The state Congress unit accused the Delimitation Commission of “neglecting” the fundamental principles and norms of the exercise and “ignoring the aspirations of the people”. “The gap of population between constituencies has widened more than before, a few constituencies comprise less than 50,000 population while several others have more than 1.90 lakh people,” it said in a statement. It said the Commission had “increased injustice and widened the gap of discrimination
on various fronts.”

J&K Congress chief spokesperson Ravinder Sharma said the final delimitation order was “biased and motivated”. The basic norms of topography, population, connectivity and compactness which form the salient features of any constituency have been ignored, he said, adding that the entire exercise was an “eyewash”.

The IkkJutt Jammu, whose main plank is a separate Jammu state, also opposed the order. IkkJutt Jammu chairman Ankur Sharma said the exercise was a “sellout and backstabbing of Jammu”, based on a “farcical” 2011 Census. Had it been done on the basis of a correct Census, Jammu, in view of its population and geographical area, would have got 50 Assembly seats, he said.

He said that by adding the border districts of Poonch and Rajouri to Anantnag Lok Sabha constituency, the Delimitation Commission had created a “separatist political corridor directly connecting with Pakistan, which runs right from South Kashmir to the LoC in two border districts of Jammu division”. This will be a security threat to the country, he said.

Meanwhile, hailing the order as “historic”, BJP in-charge of J&K, Ashish Sood, said: “For the first time, J&K has been treated as a single entity, which will end the alienation of some areas and communities, and will open the doors for equitable political representation and growth for every area of the Union territory.”

The party appreciated the recommendation that the Assembly should have at least two members from the Kashmiri migrant community. “The recommendation of two seats for displaced Kashmiri Hindus in the Assembly will lead to the participation of the displaced Hindu community in the political process and growth in the region,” said Sood, expressing the hope that it would usher an inclusive democratic process.

J&K BJP president Ravinder Raina expressed confidence that the recommendation would soon take the shape of a law. He praised the Delimitation Commission for completing the exercise.

Shiv Sena leader Ashok Gupta said the Delimitation Commission had done justice to all the people and areas of J&K.