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Updated February 22nd, 2021 at 16:58 IST

J&K L-G urges PDP & NC to help in delimitation exercise; gives assurance on Assembly polls

Addressing the media, J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha took a dig at PDP and NC for their opposition to the delimitation exercise in the Union Territory.

Reported by: Akhil Oka
J&K
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Addressing the media on Monday, J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha took a dig at PDP and NC for their opposition to the delimitation exercise in the Union Territory. He called upon these parties to help in the delimitation process to ensure that the Assembly elections take place soon instead of making excuses. While PDP supremo Mehbooba Mufti has dubbed delimitation as a part of BJP's larger plan to pit religions and communities against each other, NC opted out of the proceedings citing the pendency of the plea challenging the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019. On this occasion, Sinha assured that the EC will definitely conduct Assembly polls in the UT after the completion of the delimitation process. 

Read: 3-day Camp For Students Starts Ahead Of Reopening Of Schools In JK's Doda

The delimitation exercise

Referring to the demarcation of boundaries of Parliamentary or Assembly constituencies, the delimitation process is carried out at regular intervals to ensure that each constituency has approximately an equal number of voters. It is usually done when a state is divided which is the case with J&K, which was split into the Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh. Elections have not been held in the state since the dissolution of the state Assembly on November 21, 2018. As per the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, the number of seats in the Legislative Assembly of J&K shall be increased from 107 to 114. 

The delimitation of the constituencies will be determined by the EC in accordance with multiple factors. On February 18, 2020, the Ministry of Legislative Affairs requested Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora to nominate a member to the “proposed” Delimitation Commission for J&K. Subsequently, the EC mentioned that Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra had been selected as the CEC’s nominee.

As per the government notification dated March 6, retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Desai and the State Election Commissioner of the concerned state or Union Territory were appointed as the other two members of the Delimitation Commission. Justice (retd.) Desai's tenure shall be for a period of one year or until further orders, whichever is earlier. On May 26, three JKNC Lok Sabha MPs Farooq Abdullah, Hasnain Masoodi, Akbar Lone and two BJP MPs Jitendra Singh and Jugal Kishore were nominated by the Ministry of Home Affairs as associate members of the Delimitation Commission to assist the three-member panel.

Read: Securing National Unity Through Counter-insurgency Ops Not Just Duty For JK Police: LG

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Published February 22nd, 2021 at 16:58 IST

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