Politics

Delimitation Commission invites public objections till March 21

Elections to the Legislative Assembly will be held only after Commission submits its final report which will be followed by a summary revision of the Electoral Rolls

Chandra Maurya

March 15, 2022

Elections to the Legislative Assembly will be held only after Commission submits its final report which will be followed by a summary revision of the Electoral Rolls

Polls likely after Amarnath yatra

The three-member Delimitation Commission headed by Justice (Retired) Ranjana Prakash Desai has finally circulated its draft proposals in the public domain after publishing the same in the Gazettes of India and Jammu and Kashmir.

Elections to the Legislative Assembly will be held only after the Delimitation Commission submits its final report which will be followed by a summary revision of the Electoral Rolls.

The Delimitation Commission is expected to finalize its report before May 6, 2022. The Assembly polls are likely to take place after the conduct of the Amarnath pilgrimage.

Objections invited from the public till March 21

After incorporating suggestions made by the five associate members the commission has now invited objections and suggestions from the common people till March 21. Before finalizing its final report the  commission is also scheduled to visit the Union Territory where they are expected to hold sittings with the common masses.

According to the notification the Commission has published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary and in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, its proposals for the delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir for the purpose of elections to House of People (Lok Sabha) and Legislative Assembly.

“Copies of the Gazette are available for reference with the Chief Electoral Officer, UT of Jammu and Kashmir, and the Election officials in all districts of the Union Territory. Objections and suggestions to the people can be given to the Secretary, Delimitation Commission, Ashoka Hotel, 50-B, Niti Marg, Chankyapuri, New Delhi on or before 5 pm on March 21,” the statement said.

It added that the suggestions will be considered by the Commission in its public sitting in Jammu and Kashmir on March 28 and 29, the location and timing of which will be notified separately.

Interestingly, the Delimitation Commission has only accommodated suggestions made by the associate members in terms of changing names of certain assembly constituencies and reorganizing boundaries of a few others after objections were raised.

The Commission has not amended its interim report in terms of increasing the number of Lok Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir. Even no Parliamentary constituency was reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs). Only seven seats for SCs and nine for STs stand reserved in the Legislative Assembly.

13 SC/ ST seats reserved in Jammu region, 3 in Kashmir

Nine seats reserved for STs include Rajouri, Darhal, and Thanna Mandi, all in Rajouri district, Surankote, and Mendhar in Poonch district, and Mahore in Reasi district (Jammu region); Gurez in Bandipora district, Kangan in Ganderbal district, and Kokernag in Anantnag district (Kashmir division).

All seven seats reserved for SCs fall in the Jammu region including Ramnagar in Udhampur district, Kathua South in Kathua district, Ramgarh in Samba district; Bishnah, Suchetgarh, Marh, and Akhnoor in Jammu district.

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

Twenty-four seats of the Assembly continue to remain vacant as they fall under Pakistan-occupied Jammu Kashmir (PoJK).

Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.

PGurus is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel and stay updated with all the latest news and views

For all the latest updates, download PGurus App.