New Delhi: As the new Narendra Modi government settles down in office it has its task cut out. Besides the National Register of Citizens (NRC), delimitation of electoral constituencies seems high on the priority list of new Union home minister Amit Shah who has prioritised the exercise in troubled Jammu and Kashmir and is reported to be keen to take it up urgently in other states.
A detailed presentation on the situation in J&K, where the BJP has been pushing for carrying out a delimitation exercise, has already been presented to Mr Shah, sources said. The home minister was briefed about the ground situation in the militancy-hit sate where no delimitation has taken place for the past 16 years.
In 2002, the then state government led by Farooq Abdullah had amended the state constitution that froze the delimitation commission till 2026.
The main task of a delimitation commission is to redraw boundaries of Assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies based on the census to reflect changes in population groupings.
The BJP unit in J&K welcomed the reported discussions at the Centre on delimitation of constituencies in the state as a long-pending constitutional demand and said that Kashmir-based parties had been opposing the exercise just to maintain their grip on the power structure in the state. As of now, the Kashmir region has 46 seats followed by Jammu region with 37 and Ladakh with four
Sources revealed that the Central government was also looking at other states. West Bengal reportedly is also high on the list for delimitation exercise.
Apprehending the move, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday hit out at the BJP-led government asking how the Centre could plan such an exercise in J&K without consultation with all the stakeholders.
Without mentioning West Bengal, the Trinamul chief slammed the Centre’s attempt to use delimitation as an excuse to disturb regional political landscape.
“Who has given the BJP the right to change the demography? How can they conduct a delimitation exercise without proper consultation with all the stakeholders, such as National Conference leaders Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah and PDP leader Mehoboba Mufti?” she asked.
Interestingly, the most recent delimitation commission was set up on July 12, 2002 after the 2001 census. Simultaneously, the Constitution was specifically amended in 2002 not to have delimitation of constituencies till the first census after 2026.Thus, the present constituencies carved out on the basis of 2001 census shall continue to be in operation till the first census after 2026, unless an amendment is considered by the Union government..
In J&K, according to legal experts, the amendment to the Constitution can be struck down by governor Satya Pal Malik but that will require concurrence of Parliament within six months after passing such an ordinance.
