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New Delhi: The controversial plan for delimitation of constituencies in the state of Jammu and Kashmir is back in the spotlight, with multiple reports suggesting that union Home Minister Amit Shah is planning to set the ball rolling for the long-pending exercise.

While the home ministry has not officially confirmed the development, the reports have created a buzz about the ramifications of the exercise on the political situation in the state.

ThePrint looks at what delimitation means, when it first happened, who is responsible for carrying it out, and what it means for the future of the Valley.

What is delimitation?

The demarcation of the boundaries of parliamentary or assembly constituencies is known as delimitation. The process is carried out every few years to ensure that each constituency has approximately an equal number of voters. Therefore, the exercise is carried out after every Census.

After every Census, Parliament enacts a Delimitation Act under Article 82 of the Constitution. Subsequently, a high-powered body known as the Delimitation Commission is constituted, which carries out the process of demarcation of constituency boundaries.

The orders of this commission are legally binding and not subject to scrutiny under any court of law. In fact, even Parliament cannot suggest modifications to an order issued by the commission.

The commission consists of a chairman — a retired or sitting judge of the Supreme Court, the Chief Election Commissioner or any of the two election commissioners, and the election commissioner of the state in which the exercise is being carried out. In addition, five MPs and five MLAs of the state are chosen as associate members of the commission.

Since the commission is a temporary body with no full-fledged staff of its own, it relies on EC staff to carry out the long-drawn-out exercise. Census data for each district, tehsil and gram panchayat is collected, and the new boundaries are demarcated. The exercise can take up to five years to be concluded for the whole country.

Also read: With 35A debate, is Kashmir more about domestic politics & less about strategic interests?

When has it happened before?

A Delimitation Commission was first constituted in 1952. Subsequently, they have been constituted in 1963, 1973 and 2002. However, in 2002, the Constitution was specifically amended not to have delimitation of constituencies until 2026.

The guiding logic behind this was that by 2026, the population growth across states would be somewhat similar. Otherwise, states which performed poorly in terms of population control would be rewarded by increasing their constituency tally, and those which took measures to control their population would have fewer constituencies.

Can Centre carry out delimitation in J&K?

No, the central government is not authorised to carry out delimitation in the state without amending the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir. Since hardly any Kashmiri party will support this, the Centre is likely to have a tough time carrying out the exercise.

The last time a delimitation exercise was conducted in J&K was under President’s Rule in 1995 by retired Justice K.K. Gupta’s commission. This followed a provisional delimitation

exercise carried out in 1993 by Governor Jagmohan, when J&K was divided into 87 assembly constituencies.

Currently, there are seven seats reserved for Scheduled Castes in the assembly, all in the Jammu division, which haven’t been rotated since 1996.

The next exercise was due in 2005, but in 2002, the Farooq Abdullah government chose to freeze delimitation until 2026 by amending the Jammu & Kashmir Representation of the People Act, 1957, and Section 47(3) of the Constitution of Jammu & Kashmir.

The amended Section 47(3) provided that “until the relevant figures for the first census taken after the year 2026 have been published, it shall not be necessary to readjust the total number of seats in the legislative assembly of the state and the division of the state into territorial constituencies under this sub-section”.

Going by the J&K Constitution, the governor has the power to amend Section 47 to delete this proviso. Also, if the governor sets up a delimitation commission, the process can begin. Section 3 of the J&K Representation of People Act also gives the governor the power to constitute a delimitation commission.

The state also has the power to revoke the law through a constitutional amendment with a two-third majority.

Convention dictates that the next delimitation exercise can only take place after Census 2031, unless the governor intervenes.

Also read: Tinkering with Article 370 or 35A will be disastrous for Jammu and Kashmir: Omar Abdullah

What will it mean for the Valley?

The proposal of delimiting constituencies in J&K has been on the BJP’s wishlist for a long time.

According to a home ministry official, if the number of seats in Jammu are increased, it will lead to “better governance”, as it will bring the region at par with Kashmir.

“On the administrative side, delimitation will ensure that Jammu gets equal representation to Kashmir. The Valley will no longer dominate or control the political scenario. Delimitation is essential for a robust political system and ensure that there is no political fallout,” the official said.

The official added that it has been a long-standing demand of the people of Jammu as they do not get equal representation.

“Kashmir is saying that the process was scheduled for 2026 as they want to maintain the

status quo in the Valley and to dominate. If Jammu has equal representation as Kashmir (a shift of three seats), the imbalance in the assembly will be fixed,” the official said.

“The Hindus of Jammu have always felt that the Muslims from the Valley get more representation, something that will be addressed if this is introduced.”

J&K parties oppose it vehemently

The plan to start the delimitation process has been vehemently opposed by the National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party, the two biggest parties in Kashmir.

NC chief Omar Abdullah said the BJP government was welcome to apply delimitation to J&K when it does the same for the rest of the country. He tweeted: “When delimitation takes place in the rest of the country the BJP is welcome to apply it to J&K until then we in the @JKNC_ will oppose, tooth & nail, any attempt to make changes without a mandate from the people of the state.”

He added: “It’s rather surprising that the BJP, which talks about bringing J&K at par with other states by removing 370 & 35-A now wants to treat J&K differently from other states in this one respect.”

PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti too accused the government of inflicting “another emotional partition of the state on communal lines”.

“Distressed to hear about government of India’s plan to redraw assembly constituencies in J&K,” she tweeted. “Forced delimitation is an obvious attempt to inflict another emotional partition of the state on communal lines. Instead of allowing old wounds to heal, GoI is inflicting pain on Kashmiris.”

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