Srinagar, September 9: The reports that Delimitation Commission has completed data collection process despite not visiting Jammu and Kashmir is bizarre.
On what basis the data has been collected when the Commission has not visited J&K needs answers. When the Commission has not visited J&K, how did it collect the data? Nothing is known about the delimitation commission on the ground.It shows the real intentions of the BJP government to hold delimitation in J&K. They have made mockery of the delimitation. The delimitation exercise is not being conducted as per the rules but as per the wishes of a particular political party.
An elected government in the J&K Legislative Assembly had unanimously passed a bill providing that the delimitation shall happen in 2026. The parameters were also set for delimitation in 2026 in the bill which was passed with the support of all the political parties of J&K.
The freeze was only brought to bring J&K at par with the rest of the country as Article 82 and Article 170 of the Constitution of India were amended by (84th Amendment) Act 2001 to freeze the delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies respectively throughout the country until the first census is taken after 2026.
Even the Supreme Court on 9 November 2010 upheld the freeze imposed by the J&K government on delimitation of assembly constituencies in the state till 2026 and dismissed the plea that it violated the “basic structure” of the Constitution.
But the delimitation process being carried out now is aimed at politically disempowering people of J&K further. The extra-constitutional measures by the BJP government will prove to be disastrous in the long term and political manipulation in a sensitive place like J&K must be avoided at any cost.
