Srinagar: Soon after the Delimitation Commission proposed six additional seats for the Jammu region and one for the Kashmir division, the Kashmir-based politicians have condemned the move and termed it an “agenda of the Bhartiya Janta Party”.
National Conference Vice president and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday called the draft recommendation of the delimitation commission “unacceptable” and said that it promotes the “political agenda of BJP”.
“The draft recommendation of the J&K delimitation commission is unacceptable. The distribution of newly created assembly constituencies with 6 going to Jammu & only 1 to Kashmir is not justified by the data of the 2011 census,” Omar wrote on his Twitter handle.
He added, “It is deeply disappointing that the commission appears to have allowed the political agenda of the BJP to dictate its recommendations rather than the data which should have been its only consideration. Contrary to the promised “scientific approach” it’s a political approach,” Omar tweeted.
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti said Delimitation Commission has been created simply to serve BJPs political interests.
Taking to social networking Twitter, Mehbooba wrote: “My apprehensions about the Delimitation Commission weren’t misplaced. They want to pitch people against each other by ignoring the population census & preposing 6 seats for one region & only one for Kashmir.”
“This commission has been created simply to serve BJPs political interests by dividing people along religious & regional lines. The real game plan is to install a government in J&K which will legitimize the illegal & unconstitutional decisions of August 2019,” the former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister of the erstwhile state added.
Peoples Conference President Sajad Gani Lone said, “The recommendations of the delimitation commission are totally unacceptable. They reek of bias. What a shock for those who believe in democracy.”
Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari, Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party President termed the recent proposal of Delimitation Commission not in sync with the census 2011, thus totally unacceptable to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
“The current proposal stands in total contrast to the process and guidelines mandated by the laws governing delimitation in the country. The district areas and their respective population numbers were to be taken into consideration as per the census of 2011 which for some unknown reason is missing from the said report,” he said adding, “not only the population criteria has been ignored but it seems that the commission has done away with the representational requirements of the existing administrative units”.
Bukhari urged the government of India to intervene in the matter and ensure that the Commission revisits its report and takes the merit into consideration.
“The report of the Delimitation Commission in its present form is unacceptable and Apni Party appeals the Government of India to take serious cognizance of this matter so that the concerns of discrimination among the people alleviated before the Commission’s report takes a final shape,” he said.
Pertinently, the Delimitation Commission today proposed six additional seats for the Jammu region and one for the Kashmir division.
The panel in its draft presented before the associate members has proposed nine seats for Scheduled Tribe and seven for Scheduled Caste as well.
All the associate members were present for the first time in the meeting as National Conference (NC) Members of Parliament attended the meeting for the first time since the formation of the commission, officials said.
The meeting was held today at Ashok Hotel in New Delhi, they said, adding that the panel has proposed seven additional assembly seats for Jammu and Kashmir. “Six seats have been proposed for the Jammu region while one has been proposed for Kashmir,” they said.
Free Press Kashmir is now on Telegram. Click here to Join.
FPK Android App for 2G. Click here to Download.
