J&K: NC, Cong, Apni Party find fault with Delimitation Panel report

In its report, the Delimitation Commission has proposed an overhaul of Assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies, which includes redrawing of the Anantnag Parliamentary seat by adding Rajouri and Poonch from the Jammu region, besides carrying out massive changes in the Kashmir division.

New Delhi:The Delimitation Commission has handed over the draft report to its five associate members -- three MPs from the National Conference (NC) and two from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) -- for their suggestions.

Former Chief Minister and NC chief Farooq Abdullah on Saturday found fault with the draft report of the Delimitation Commission on Jammu and Kashmir and stated that it "defies any and all logic" and no political, social and administrative reason can justify the recommendations.

The former CM, the Lok Sabha MP from Srinagar parliamentary seat, made it clear that the party is now engaged in formulating a detailed response to this report and also exploring other options to challenge the entire process.

One of the five Associate members of the Commission, the NC leader said the report was received on Friday night and "I am in the process of reading it in detail. But from whatever I have seen, we at the National Conference completely reject this report."

He said that they were earlier told that the delimitation exercise was being undertaken to make Assembly seats contiguous with the district.

But the draft report is showing a different picture altogether. Like Anantnag Lok Sabha seat in south Kashmir will have six Assembly seats from Rajouri and Poonch, which are part of the Jammu division and located across Peerpanjal range," Abdullah said and asked, "How is this inclined for providing better administration?"

Similarly, the way Assembly constituencies have been carved out in which some have "completely disappeared defies any and all logic". In its report, the Delimitation Commission has proposed an overhaul of Assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies, which includes redrawing of the Anantnag Parliamentary seat by adding Rajouri and Poonch from the Jammu region, besides carrying out massive changes in the Kashmir division.

Many of the assembly seats in erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state have vanished include Habba Kadal, a seat that was seen as a traditional bastion of migrant Kashmiri pandits.

Similarly, Budgam district, which had five Assembly seats, was redrawn and merged with Baramulla Parliamentary constituency besides splitting some of the areas and carving out new Assembly seats like Kunzer in north Kashmir.

Pulwama, Tral and some areas of Shopian, which formed part of the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat, will now be part of the Srinagar Parliamentary seat.

The report was sent to the five associate members including Abdullah, Hasnain Masoodi and Akbar Lone (Lok Sabha MPs from the National Conference) and Jitendra Singh and Jugal Kishore (BJP MPs) on Friday.

They have been asked to submit their views by February 14 after which the report would be put in the public domain, officials said.

Cong, NPP react strongly to draft report of Delimitation Commission

The Congress and the National Panthers Party (NPP) reacted strongly to the second draft proposal of the Delimitation Commission proposing an overhaul of the Assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir.

The norms, criteria, ground realities and aspirations of people seem to have been ignored in the delimitation of the constituencies," chief spokesperson of the Jammu and Kashmir Congress Ravinder Sharma said on media reports about the draft proposal.

He said people are surprised over the kind of "divisions and clubbing of certain areas, ignoring the ground realities and putting people to great hardships".

This is certainly not in accordance with the needs, wishes and aspirations of people," Sharma pointed out.

Surprisingly, he said most of the recommendations were already in circulation and in the public domain through the leaders of the BJP.

Sharma said Congress would discuss the proposal once the formal draft is out and put forth the view of the people forcefully.

Seeking publication of the draft delimitation report in the official gazette along with the objections of the associate members, NPP chairman and former Jammu and Kashmir minister Harsh Dev Singh said it is a mandatory requirement.

The NPP leader said the submission of a delimitation report to the associate members in Parliament, without publishing it in the official gazette, was in violation of section 60 of the Jammu and Kashmir Re-organisation Act and section 9 of the Delimitation Act.

He demanded a time-bound completion of the delimitation process and immediate conduct of the Assembly polls to ensure the installation of a legitimate, elected government in Jammu and Kashmir.

Apni Party rejects proposals

Apni Party, led by Altaf Bukhari, rejected the proposals of the Delimitation Commission for Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, saying the process adopted by the panel is "unfair and unscientific".

(With agency inputs)