New Delhi: Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik has hit the hornet’s nest by claiming in a press conference at Srinagar on Wednesday that delimitation of the Assembly constituencies in the state was just a rumour.
He was indirectly hitting none else but Union Home Minister Amit Shah who had actually announced the delimitation in the state to give more seats to the Jammu region as pressed by the BJP and reserve a score of seats for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
Shah had made the announcement last week after a closed-door meeting with the governor and hence the home ministry officials were surprised at the latter’s contention.
When pressed further, the Governor said: "Delimitation cannot be done in a day. It is a constitutional matter. These are all rumours."
The Governor’s language of reconciliation reflects a new strategy of the Modi government to stop all hawkish postures and try to win back the Kashmiris. Of course, the delimitation requires constitution of a commission to draw up the new boundaries of the assembly seats.
The last delimitation in the state took place back in 1995 when also J&K was under the President’s rule.
The Constitution requires delimitation every 10 years and that should have been in 2005 but then Farooq Abdullah government in 2002 froze delimitation until 2026 by amending the J&K Representation of the People Act 1957 and Section 47(3) of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir.
