Raman Suri
Delimitation – the very basic process of fixing boundaries of territorial constituencies in a country or state having legislative bodies – enables the election authorities to carry out their exercises smoothly and subsequently, the elected representatives of these marked constituencies get to know their areas of operation to develop them holistically without any prejudice. Strangely this very important exercise that is carried out at short yet regular intervals was frozen by an amendment to the Jammu and Kashmir Representation of the People Act 1957 and Section 47(3) of the Constitution of J&K made in 2002.
This provision was not to hold delimitation in J&K till 2026. The last delimitation was done in 1995 which meant the erstwhile state was to stay like that for at least 31 years but this order became redundant after abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019 when a Delimitation Commission was constituted under Section 3 of the Delimitation Act, 2002 (33 of 2002) to carve out assembly as well as parliamentary seats while taking into consideration the political aspirations of people and also the geography, population, connectivity and culture of all regions of the Union Territory.
Now that the Delimitation Commission headed by Justice (Retd) Ranjana Prakash Desai has given its recommendations, after about two years’ time, in public domain, it’s irking merely the dynasts and none of the other stakeholders for the simple reason that someone is feeling ground beneath their feet slipping. While the prime beneficiaries – the most neglected, are jubilant and can foresee their due representations in the next J&K Assembly or Lok Sabha, power hungry are unable to digest the move which was started with an aim to empower people at grassroot levels.
Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, refugees of Pakistan-occupied J&K (PoJK), Kashmiri Pundit migrants, border villagers and most importantly, those desirous of seeing their constituencies renamed only to identify the same with their social or religious sentiments besides those who were unable to cover their constituencies because of the geographical inaccessibility, are all feeling elated and more than satisfied to get this colossal exercise done after consultation with the representations from all political outfits besides other stakeholders. Then what’s irking the dynasts?
In fact, this is for the very first time that seats have been reserved for Scheduled Tribes in the Legislative Assembly. Earlier, the then Chief Minister of erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah, during his regime in 2002 had amended the state constitution, freezing delimitation till 2026. What was the need to do so, especially when certain remote hilly areas in J&K either remained unrepresented or represented by leaders who were unable to exert pressure on the governments to develop their far-off constituencies? Now that a few Tehsils and Patwar Halqas have been shifted only after consultations, the constituencies have become accessible and reasonably manageable.
In fact, those who had managed to get the delimitation exercise frozen never expected that Article 370 could ever be abrogated and such a situation would arise where they would witness the political power shift in years to come because of the delimitation done in J&K. The wrongly carved out constituencies, which were inaccessible and were left under-developed only to favour a chosen few in cities and towns, have now become an arena of all stakeholders and with the new drawn boundaries, the political career of many so-called old stalwarts stands marred. This is what’s primarily irking those who were sticking to their seats and were sure of getting elected each time by all means.
This practice or arrangement is over now and its irking no one but the dynasts. Now that nine seats have been reserved for STs, seven for SCs and two other than 90 newly carved out assembly constituencies for Kashmiri Pundit migrants, every section of the society is feeling elated. Another best part of the recommendations is that the refugees of 1947, who until now didn’t have even the voting rights, will now be able to get into the J&K legislative assembly, if the Union Government considers giving them (PoJK refugees) due representation on the recommendations of the Delimitation Commission. They will also have a voice in the assembly like any other citizen of the country.
Still interesting is that two Kashmiri Pundits, who will be nominated, will also have voting rights in the House of 90 elected representatives and remaining nominated ones. This will most likely be beneficial for the group in counting its numbers while passing any bill or electing the leader of ruling or opposition party. This is quite significant a right granted to those migrants who had always been banking upon different political outfits for raising their demands. Now they will have a direct say in the system.
In the house of 90, which the commission has recommended, 13 out of 16 reserved seats for SCs and STs are falling in Jammu and this is another arrangement that’s irking the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), many of whose members are reluctant to contest the next assembly elections and people like Mehbooba Mufti have even made it clear not to contest elections till Article 370 is restored. In such a situation where power is slipping out of the hands of a chosen few and going to the commoners, there is every chance of someone feeling the heat.
Earlier, when Commissions were set up by Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah and without consulting anyone assembly seats were carved out, no one created any ruckus but today, when the Delimitation Commission has consulted each and every stakeholder, invited objections, deliberated upon them and then put the draft report in public domain before finalising 90 constituencies for Jammu and Kashmir, only the power hungry are making this hue and cry. The same Commission, after receiving inputs from Kashmiri migrants or PoJK refugees, has recommended reservation of seats for them to the Centre.
It also listened to the people of other areas and accordingly dissected existing constituencies or renamed them to suit people’s aspirations. Those raising hue and cry either didn’t represent their people rightly or never wanted to get exposed because of the wrongs done in the past. Regarding delimitation of Lok Sabha seats, the new boundaries set forth go in sync with the rest of the country. A look at the political map will now justify these constituencies that have been carved out on the basis of population as well as areas, Anantnag being one such example.
Now, if the people of Tehsil Nagseni, which is a hilly and backward area with a huge Schedule Tribe and Scheduled Caste population, desire to see their area developed at par with any other constituency, then why is it irking PAGD? People of these areas claimed to be discriminated against, faced a biased approach due to inaccessibility, stayed underdeveloped and live for most time of the year in snow-bound and neglected areas. Granting them or renaming their constituency Padder as Padder-Nagseni (Kishtwar district) is no sin and PAGD must appreciate such a move.
Naming Kathua North as Jasrota to satisfy some social obligations, Mahore as Gulabgarh, Dargal as Budhal, Tangmarg as Gulmarg, or Sonwar as Lal Chowk assembly constituency must not irk anyone and instead, should elate them for the reason that most of these places have always stayed in news by these names, thus making these more relevant than their previous names. Based on the 2011 census, 20 districts have been equally divided keeping into consideration their geography of being hilly and difficult, hilly and less difficult and entirely plain.
There definitely is a setback for many whose tehsils have been shifted to other constituencies for the reason that they had monopolised their vote banks but this change is for good in terms of geography and if those leaders are having a popular face, they must not get afraid of contesting from their same constituency. Since the Commission ensured that every Assembly Constituency is contained entirely in one district, not much changes were done in Patwar or municipal wards.
Despite this colossal exercise, there must be certain hilly and backward areas that still need individual representation. The Government is required to carry out this exercise at regular intervals so that no village, tehsil, district or ward goes unrepresented. Till then, all we need to do is wait for a final call on this report and prepare for assembly elections, for which all obstacles now stand cleared in a much better manner.
(The writer is Bharatiya Janata Party J&K Executive Member)
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