Governor Satya Pal Malik and the state unit of the BJP are taking conflicting postures on the contentious issue of holding fresh delimitation of assembly constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir.
Malik recently told media persons in Srinagar that reports of the government contemplating to order fresh delimitation are “rumours”.
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“Delimitation cannot be done in a day. It is a constitutional matter. These are all rumours,” he said.
However, the BJP has put its foot down on the issue as on Sunday it demanded fresh delimitation of assembly constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir to remove discrimination with the Jammu and Ladakh regions.
A resolution to this effect was adopted here at the meeting of the working committee of the J&K unit of BJP. The resolution expressed concern over the “gross injustice” done to the Ladakh and Jammu regions by the previous National Conference governments through inequitable delimitation of assembly constituencies “favouring Kashmir region”.
The BJP also demanded de-freezing of 8 of the 24 seats reserved in the assembly for Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK) and allot these to Jammu region where POJK displaced persons are settled since 1947.
It is worth mentioning that the grouse in Jammu and Ladakh is that the two regions have not been given due representation in the assembly while the constituencies in Kashmir have been created with a lesser number of the electorate.
Of the total number of 87 seats in the assembly, 46 are in the Kashmir valley, 37 in Jammu and 4 in Ladakh. Besides, 24 seats are reserved for the POJK.
Among those who attended the BJP working committee meeting were Ravinder Raina, state BJP chief, Jitendra Singh, minister of state in PMO, Nirmal Singh, Speaker and Ashok Koul, general secretary.
BJP’s demand for fresh delimitation has triggered resentment among the political outfits in the valley who point out that delimitation had been frozen till 2026 by the assembly.
They also point out that the Supreme Court had, in 2010, upheld the freeze imposed by the state government on the delimitation of assembly constituencies till 2026.
It is being alleged that the BJP was aiming to capture power in the state by increasing the number of assembly seats in Jammu and Ladakh where the party has won all three Lok Sabha seats.
With Amit Shah holding a series of meetings on Kashmir after being assigned the Home portfolio at the centre had set off speculations of the BJP government contemplating to order fresh delimitation to remove “injustice” with Jammu and Ladakh.
The state is currently under the President’s rule.
The BJP leadership, while campaigning here during the recent Lok Sabha elections, had raised the issue of the alleged discrimination with the Jammu and Ladakh regions by the successive Kashmir dominated governments in the state.
