Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, May 29: The National Conference today rejected Delimitation Commission announced by Central government and said its three Members of the Parliament will not join the Commission.
In a statement issued, the party said: “This Delimitation Commission is a product of the J&K Re-organization Act 2019 which JKNC is challenging in and outside the SC. Participating in this Delimitation Commission will be tantamount to accepting the events of 5th Aug 2019 which the NC is unwilling to do.”
“According to the Constitution of J&K, the constituencies of J&K were to be delimited in 2026 with rest of the country. The constituencies in the State were last delimited in ’90s”, the statement added.
The NC described the constitution of the Delimitation Commission as unwarranted. “Thereafter an amendment was made in the constitution of J&K unanimously passed in the State Assembly in which all the regional parties, Congress and BJP voted for this amendment to go with the delimitation with rest of the country in 2026. Therefore the constitution of the Delimitation Commission is unwarranted,” the statement added.
The NC president Dr Farooq Abdullah and four other MPs from Jammu and Kashmir were nominated as associate members of Delimitation Commission set-up by the Government of India for fixing boundaries of Assembly segments in the newly carved out Union Territory.
LS Speaker Om Birla nominated three NC MPs, Dr Farooq Abdullah, Justice (retd) Hasnain Masoodi and Muhammad Akbar Lone- as associate members of Delimitation Commission, which was constituted under J&K Re-Organisation Act-2019 and Delimitation Commission Act-2002.
Two BJP MPs, Dr Jitendra Singh and Jugal Kishore Sharma, have also been nominated as associate members of the panel.
The Union Law Ministry has constituted the Delimitation Commission headed by Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai to redraw Lok Sabha and assembly constituencies of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Northeastern States of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland. Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra and Election Commissioner of J and K, and the four States are ex-officio members of the commission.