Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said that Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir will be held six to eight months after the end of the delimitation process in the Union Territory, News18 reported on Tuesday.
“The delimitation exercise is about to get over,” Shah told the channel in an interview. “After that, within six-eight months, the elections will be held. There is no confusion.”
The term of the delimitation commission, headed by former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Desai, is slated to end on March 6. However, reports have said that the commission may get a two-month extension.
On February 6, it submitted a draft report, in which it proposed the creation of seven new Assembly segments and the redrawing of the boundaries of some others. Six of the new constituencies are proposed to be in the Jammu, while one is in Kashmir.
With these changes, Jammu and Kashmir will have a total of 90 Assembly seats. The number of seats in the Jammu region will increase from 37 to 43, while in the Kashmir region they will increase from 46 to 47. Another 24 seats will be reserved for Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
For the first time, the commission has also proposed to reserve nine seats for Scheduled Tribes. Seven seats have been proposed to be reserved for Scheduled Castes.
However, regional parties in Jammu and Kashmir have strongly opposed the panel’s recommendations. On February 6, National Conference MP Hasnain Masoodi had alleged that the party’s recommendations to the panel were “thrown to the wind” and that there was discrimination in the redrawing of boundaries.
On February 7, Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti had said that the proposals of the delimitation commission constituted an attack on the Union Territory’s democracy. She had alleged that the panel was working according to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s agenda.
The delimitation process is a politically sensitive subject in Jammu and Kashmir because of fears that the BJP may use it to alter political outcomes in what was earlier India’s only Muslim-majority state.
Meanwhile, Amit Shah on Tuesday also responded to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s statement that India and Pakistan should resolve the Kashmir issue together.
“Kashmir is an integral part of India,” Shah said, according to News18. “There is no point of discussion there...This is the position taken by all governments in Parliament. This is the country’s position.”
‘Rahul Gandhi does not know country’s history’
The home minister also criticised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his statement in the Lok Sabha that the Union government’s policies on Kashmir brought Pakistan and China closer.
“Rahul Gandhi doesn’t know the history of this country,” Shah said, according to News18. “He doesn’t know what happened in 1962 and because of whom. The Narendra Modi government has given strong reply to every challenge posed by China.”
On February 2, Gandhi delivered a fiery speech while addressing the Lok Sabha during the motion of thanks to the President’s address. He had said the Modi government had put India at risk by bringing Pakistan and China together. “This is the single biggest crime that you could commit against the people of India,” he added.
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