New Delhi, Jun 5: With Jammu and Kashmir high on agenda, the Narendra Modi government is reportedly toying with the idea of conducting the stalled delimitation exercise to redraw Assembly constituencies in the troubled state to address "regional disparity and anomalies".
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) may appoint a delimitation commission to carry out the exercise and it could end up in reversing the present scenario by giving more seats to Jammu region. At present, Kashmir region has 46 seats while Jammu region has 37 and Ladhak four.
In case the government goes ahead with the plan, some sections believe, it would enable non-Muslims from Jammu region to become Chief Minister of the state which has only seen Muslim Chief Ministers and help BJP to spread its wings in the state. Congress' Ghulam Nabi Azad was the only Chief Minister from Jammu region.
The delimitation exercise is considered part of BJP's plans for Kashmir where it wants to repeal both Article 370 that provides for special status to the state and Article 35(A) that gives special rights to Kashmiris.
However, MHA sources said there was no discussion in the Ministry on the issue of delimitation in Jammu and Kashmir.
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti tweeted, "distressed to hear about GoI (Government of India) plan to redraw assembly constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir. Forced delimitation is an obvious attempt to inflict another emotional partition of the state on communal lines. Instead of allowing old wounds to heal, Government of India is inflicting pain on Kashmiris."
National Conference chief Omar Abdullah said, "when delimitation takes place in the rest of the country the BJP is welcome to apply it to Jammu and Kashmir until then we will oppose, tooth and nail, any attempt to make changes without a mandate from the people of the state."
Officials have already briefed Home Minister Amit Shah about the security situation across the country, especially in Jammu and Kashmir which is under President's Rule. While the government is not in a hurry to conduct elections Jammu and Kashmir, the President's Rule is likely to be extended for another six months on July 3.
Reportedly, the government is keen on embarking on the delimitation exercise, which is on freeze since 2002, to address allegations of regional disparity. The last such exercise was held in 1995 and as per Jammu and Kashmir Constitution, another delimitation should have been done in 2005.
However, Farooq Abdullah-led government in 2002 chose to freeze delimitation until 2026 through an amendment to the Jammu and Kashmir Constitution. Owing to its special status, Jammu and Kashmir has a separate Constitution and penal code.
To enable the conduct of the exercise, the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir has to be amended and with the state under President's Rule, sources claimed, the Governor has powers to do so as the legislative authority is vested with the Raj Bhavan when it does not have a functioning Assembly.
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