After the recent political outreach by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to listen to Jammu and Kashmir leaders, the political process has gained pace as the delimitation commission is scheduled to visit Jammu and Kashmir from 6-9 July to hold meetings with a cross section of people, including many political parties.
The Election Commission on Wednesday said that the delimitation commission will visit Jammu and Kashmir between 6 and 9 July. “During this period, the Commission will interact with political parties, public representatives and Union Territory administration officials including District Election Officers/ Deputy Commissioners of 20 districts of the Union Territory to gather first hand information and input concerning the on-going process of delimitation as mandated under the Jammu & Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019,” it added.
A decision in this regard was taken after a meeting of the poll panel that was chaired by delimitation commission chairperson Justice (retd) Ranjana Prakash Desai and Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sushil Chandra, it said. The Election Commission in its press statement said that earlier, it invited all associate members for interaction, and two of the associate members participated.
The National Conference has already shown it readiness to meet the delimitation commission, if invited for talks. All the three MPs of Kashmir Valley, who are the associate members of the commission, have so far boycotted the proceedings, terming the mandate of the delimitation commission as “unconstitutional”.
A number of representations have also been received on various aspects concerning delimitation from civil societies and members of public from the Union Territory. The Commission has already taken note of all such suggestions and directed that these may be deliberated further in the context of ground realities concerning delimitation.
Last week, on June 23 the Election Commission held virtual discussions with its representatives in Jammu and Kashmir and deputy commissioners regarding the delimitation of the 90 Assembly constituencies in the Union Territory. In the meeting, that was attended by 20 deputy commissioners from Jammu and Kashmir, administrative difficulties faced with respect to the assembly constituencies were discussed.
The Prime Minister, during the June 24 meeting, had said the ongoing delimitation exercise in Jammu and Kashmir has to happen quickly so that polls can be held to install an elected government that gives strength to its development trajectory.
After the PM’s all-party meeting, there is a lot of positivity in Jammu and Kashmir and it is likely that political parties will meet the delimitation commission and put forth their views for the reorganisation of Assembly and parliamentary segments of Jammu and Kashmir. The commission got an extension of one year and has still nine months left to complete its exercise in Jammu and Kashmir. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, during the all-party meeting, has asked for cooperation of all the political parties for the completion of work by delimitation commission so that Assembly elections could be held after the exercise is over.