The Delimitation Commission during its meeting with associate members had invited objections from the latter with regard to the process of delimiting of the 90 seats in December last but the Delimitation is nowhere in sight and nor has any draft circulated even amongst the members. And neither has any report been shared with media nor put in public domain. No one knows exactly which seats are proposed for reservation and which are to be dereserved giving rise to speculations and rumors being spread in the public and social media. This has also led to public unrest in several areas due to fake, unauthenticated reports being circulated by lumpen elements”, stated Mr. Harsh Dev Singh Chairman-JKNPP and former Minister.Mr. Singh said that it was amusing to note that after a period of several months since its constitution, the Delimitation Commission had nothing to share with the Associate members except a verbal statement that 9 seats were to be reserved for STs, 7 for SCs and out of 7 additional seats, 6 seats were proposed for Jammu region and 1 for Kashmir. Neither the names of reserved seats were shared nor were the members apprised of the names of 7 new Assembly seats. The members were simply asked to give their objections/comments with regard to the aforesaid proposal without elucidating them. The Delimitation Commission remained silent over the names of the proposed 90 constituencies or the territorial jurisdiction of the said seats thereby making a mockery of the members so invited in the meeting.Referring to the Delimitation Commission’s statements over the number of reserved seats for STs and SCs, Mr. Singh said that there was nothing new in it. The J&K Reorganization Act passed in August 2019 had envisaged 90 Assembly seats for J&K UT and in view of existing 10% reservation of STs and 8% for SCs, it was a matter of common sense that 9 seats would go to SCs and 7 to SCs. So what has the Delimitation Commission practically done to actually delimit the 90 seats assigned to it, was the pertinent question which unfortunately none of the Associate members raised in the meeting. He said that the meeting was merely an eye wash and proved that no business whatsoever had been transacted by the commission since its constitution with the delimitation process being delayed at the behest of a nonchalant BJP. Accusing the BJP of willfully delaying delimitation and eventually the elections in J&K, Mr. Singh observed that liberal democracy was fast being supplanted by pseudo democracy after downgrading the state into UT. With the BJP govt hell bent to continue its proxy rule in J&K, the Delimitation Commission seemed to be giving it tacit as well as overt official support. And this fact had been corroborated during a recent episode wherein the PM’s Secretary had called a meeting of Election Officers including the CEC two days prior to the meeting of the Delimitation Commission with Associate members.Holding BJP govt culpable of undermining the democratic legitimacy, Mr. Singh said that its undue interference and control of autonomous bodies had given the deadliest blow to the values enshrined in our great constitution. Such episodes sadly bear the stink of demise of independent institutions and lying forlorn on the wayside was the tenet that law is equal for all in Democracy. Calling upon the Delimitation Commission to finalize its report without any political pressures, Mr. Singh appealed it to ensure that democracy moved unhindered. If the delimitation of 4121 Assembly constituencies and 538 Parliamentary constituencies of entire country could be completed in less than 4 years by justice Kuldip Singh commission of 2002, it defied logic that delimitation of 90 Assembly seats of J&K had hardly registered any progress during the last 21 months, said Harsh.
