An Assembly for J&K

The Delimitation Commission’s final order for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir lays the groundwork for resumption of the electoral process, stalled abruptly following the scrapping of the special status and bifurcation of the erstwhile state in 2019. The proposal to have an additional six Assembly seats for the Jammu region, from 37 earlier, and raising Kashmir’s tally by one to 47 has ruffled feathers in the Valley. The regional fault lines have been exposed and conventional political satraps stare at a new reality. Despite criticism of the panel’s recommendations having a BJP stamp and the altered electoral map giving it a distinct edge, it would be an exaggeration to interpret the fresh arrangement as a guarantee for a particular party’s ascendancy or another’s decline. Voters deserve more credit than being labelled blind followers, while elections can throw up surprise results. Not having elections at all is a blot; the sooner it is erased, the better.

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A marked change is the reservation of nine seats out of the Assembly’s increased strength of 90, from 83, for Scheduled Tribes, including three in Kashmir. Seven seats have been reserved for Scheduled Castes, all in the Jammu region. Two seats have been recommended for Kashmiri Pandits, without any clarity on the dynamics. There will still be five Lok Sabha seats, but a point of contention is the erstwhile seat of Anantnag in Kashmir. To be called Anantnag-Rajouri, the trans-Pir Panjal constituency would comprise 11 Assembly segments of Anantnag, Kulgam and Shopian districts in south Kashmir, and seven segments of Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu — a curious mix that could reinforce the regional divide.

The last delimitation exercise was carried out in 1995 and the latest one is based largely on the 2011 Census, though most non-BJP parties claim that greater weight being given to Jammu is out of sync with the demographic balance. Much of the attention would be on when the Centre decides to hold the Assembly elections, as parties re-strategise and reorient themselves to lay claim to the political space in J&K.