Delimitation panel report - changes to J&K constituencies

• Delimitation panel report has added 6 Assembly seats to Jammu, 1 to Kashmir, and redrawn Assembly as well as Lok Sabha seats.

Delimitation Commission For J&K

Delimitation became necessary when the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019 increased the number of seats in the Assembly.

• The erstwhile J&K state had 111 seats - 46 in Kashmir, 37 in Jammu, and four in Ladakh - plus 24 seats reserved for Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
• When Ladakh was carved out as a Union Territory, J & K was left with 107 seats, including the 24 for PoK.
• The Reorganization Act increased the seats to 114 - 90 for Jammu & Kashmir, besides the 24 reserved for PoK.
• Delimitation of parliamentary constituencies was governed by the Constitution of India.

Matter of Controversy

Constituency boundaries are being redrawn only in J&K when delimitation for the rest of the country has been frozen until 2026.

• The last delimitation exercise in J&K was carried out in 1995.
• In 2002, the then J & K government amended the J & K Representation of the People Act to freeze the delimitation exercise until 2026.
• This was challenged in the J&K High Court and then the Supreme Court, both of which upheld the freeze.

Various Changes

Assembly

• The Commission has increased seven Assembly seats - six in Jammu (now 43 seats) and one in Kashmir (now 47).
• It has also made massive changes in the structure of the existing Assembly seats.

Lok Sabha

• The Commission has redrawn the boundaries of Anantnag and Jammu seats.
• Jammu’s Pir Panjal region, comprising Poonch and Rajouri districts and formerly part of Jammu parliamentary seat, has now been added to Anantnag seat in Kashmir.
• The Shia-dominated region of Srinagar parliamentary constituency has been transferred to Baramulla constituency.

Kashmiri Pandits

• The Commission has recommended “provision of at least two members from the community of Kashmiri Migrants (Kashmiri Hindus) in the Legislative Assembly.
• It has also recommended that the Center should consider giving representation in the J & K Legislative Assembly to the displaced persons from PoK, who migrated to Jammu after Partition.

The changes in parliamentary seats means

The restructuring of Anantnag and Jammu will change the influence of various demographic groups in these seats.

• The Commission has reserved nine Assembly seats for Scheduled Tribes.
• Six of these are in the redrawn Anantnag parliamentary seat, including in Poonch and Rajouri, which has the highest ST population.
• Opposition parties anticipate that the parliamentary seat, too, would be reserved for ST.
• The erstwhile Anantnag seat had a small ST population, but the outcome of the redrawn seat would be decided by Poonch and Rajouri.

Conclusion

Reservation of seats for Kashmiri Pandits and displaced persons from PoK, too, would help the BJP. The Commission did not specify whether the seats for Kashmiri Pandits should be reserved from among the existing seats, or whether they should be given additional seats.

Exam Track

Prelims Takeaway

• Delimitation Commission For J&K
• Lok Sabha
• State Assembly