National Conference President Farooq Abdullah. (File Photo)
Jammu and Kashmir (Jammu and Kashmir Delimitation Commission to re-determine the Assembly Constituencies in (Delimitation Commission) shared with its associate members a revised draft report incorporating some of the changes suggested by them. Meanwhile, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah (Farooq Abdullah) has said that he feels that the Delimitation Commission has given the BJP (BJP) so that the BJP gets a majority in the assembly and they are able to pass a resolution in favor of what they did on 05 August 2019, which has already been accepted by the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly.
The Gupkar Manifesto Alliance (PAGD) meeting was held on Saturday to discuss the current situation in Jammu and Kashmir, including the draft resolution of the Delimitation Commission. MY Tarigami, the spokesperson of the five-party alliance, said they would convene a meeting of MPs and leaders and place a white paper before them. After this, if possible, a copy of it will also be handed over to the President of India. Regarding the removal of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, he said that what happened on August 5, 2019, was completely unconstitutional, illegal and unfair.
In Jammu and Kashmir, all mainstream parties, except the BJP, had rejected the draft proposal of the Delimitation Commission, saying the commission had not followed the criteria set by itself for the exercise. National Conference MPs are associate members of the Delimitation Commission. Raising questions on the basis of the delimitation exercise, he said that the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act has been challenged in the Supreme Court.
Five Lok Sabha members from Jammu and Kashmir – National Conference’s Farooq Abdullah, Mohammad Akbar Lone and Hasnain Masoodi and BJP’s Jugal Kishore Sharma and Jitendra Singh – are associate members of the panel. He had suggested several changes in the panel’s previous draft report. Sources said that the committee had met and after deliberation had accepted most of the suggestions. The revamped draft incorporating the suggestions was submitted to five associate members on Friday.
In their objections and suggestions, the members urged the panel to ‘redraw’ some assembly seats. His suggestions regarding Habba Kadal seat in Srinagar and Suchetgarh seat in Jammu have been accepted. Sources said that the commission has also agreed not to change the name of the Inderwal assembly seat. The Delimitation Commission on Jammu and Kashmir is headed by former Supreme Court Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, with Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra and State Election Commissioner of Jammu and Kashmir as its ex-officio members. Associate members have been asked to respond to the latest draft within a week. Later, the commission will make the draft public for taking suggestions from the people. It was recently given an extension of two months till May 6 to complete its work.