J&K Delimitation Commission Report: Jammu to have 43 seats, Kashmir to have 47- Check Full Report Here

J&K Delimitation Commission: The Jammu and Kashmir Delimitation Commission has signed the final order for delimitation of Jammu and Kashmir. The completion of the delimitation process will pave for holding assembly elections in J&K. 

The J&K Delimitation Commission was constituted in March 2020 to redraw the boundaries of assembly and parliamentary constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir after its bifurcation in August 2019. The commission concluded the exercise today and signed the final order for the delimitation of Jammu and Kashmir. The erstwhile state has been without an elected government since June 2018.

The J&K delimitation ‘award’ will be made public through an official gazette notification that will detail out the number of constituencies and their size. The delimitation of the seats will be necessary for holding of the assembly elections.  

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As per the final Delimitation Order, the following will come into effect from the date to be notified by the Central Govt- Out of the 90 Assembly Constituencies in the region, 43 will be part of the Jammu region and 47 of the Kashmir region.

— ANI (@ANI) May 5, 2022

J&K Delimitation Commission Report: Check Key Recommendations

• The J&K Delimitation Commission has recommended all five parliamentary constituencies in J&K to have an equal number of assembly constituencies for the first time. 
• The commission had earlier proposed increasing the number of assembly seats in the union territory from 83 to 90.
• The panel also proposed six additional seats for the Jammu division and one for Kashmir. Till now, Kashmir had 46 seats, while Jammu had 37.
• Now, out of the total 90 assembly constituencies, 43 seats have been proposed in Jammu and 47 in Kashmir. 
• The commission has also recommended reserving 9 seats for Scheduled Tribes (ST), which is another first for the erstwhile state, out of which 6 will be in Jammu and 3 in Kashmir Valley. 
• According to the delimitation commission's report, all assembly constituencies shall remain within the boundary of the concerned district.
• The commission has also recommended additional seats in the assembly for Kashmiri migrants and displaced persons from POK. 
• The commission has revised the nomenclatures of 13 assembly constituencies (ACs), including 7 in the Jammu region and 6 in the Kashmir region.
• The Patwar circle, which is the lowest administrative unit, has not been broken. It has been included or excluded across 21 assembly constituencies as they appeared in the last delimitation.
• Further, the Delimitation Commission has seen the Jammu & Kashmir region as one single Union Territory. Therefore, one of the Parliamentary Constituency has been carved out combining the Anantnag region in the Valley and the Rajouri & Poonch of the Jammu region.

The Delimitation Commission has seen the Jammu & Kashmir region as one single Union Territory. Therefore, one of the Parliamentary Constituency has been carved out combining the Anantnag region in the Valley and the Rajouri & Poonch of the Jammu region.

— ANI (@ANI) May 5, 2022

J&K Delimitation Commission

The J&K Delimitation Commission was chaired by former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai. It comprised Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra and deputy election commissioner Chander Bhushan Kumar,  chief electoral officer Hridesh Kumar and state election commissioner (SEC) KK Sharma as its ex-officio members.

The delimitation commission was granted a year's extension and then another two months' extension in February 2022 to complete its task. 

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Background

The Jammu and Kashmir delimitation commission met up with various delegations in Jammu on May 2, 2022. They also met with various stakeholders in Srinagar and received their representations for the submission of their report. 

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