The flip-flop of the National Conference (NC), which has three MPs from the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, over participating in the delimitation exercise continued, with the party undecided on attending the meeting of the Delimitation Commission scheduled for December 20 in New Delhi.
The meeting is the first since Prime Minister Narendra Modi held an all-party meeting earlier in June.
Official sources said the Commission had completed its report and is likely to share it with all the five associate members, including three MPs from the NC and two MPs from the BJP.
“An invitation has been sent us (NC). The leadership is yet to take a decision on whether to attend the meeting,” NC MP Hasnain Masoodi told The Hindu .
The NC has been upset with the Commission’s failure to formally include the MPs during a four-day tour of the UT in July this year, when it held meetings with local political parties, public representatives and officials.
“We were not associated with the Commission visit to J&K and thereafter. No report or any material has been shared with us,” Mr. Masoodi said.
Earlier in February this year, the NC MPs had boycotted the the three-member Commission, headed by Justice (Retd.) Ranjana Prakash Desai, despite an invite to join proceedings. The party had argued that the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019 and measures thereafter, including the Commission, were “unconstitutional and the case was before the Supreme Court”.
However, the party changed its stand after the all-party meeting chaired by the Prime Minister and assurances of a follow up and announcement of J&K centric measures. NC president Dr. Farooq Abdullah, also a MP from Srinagar, then showed willingness to be part of the delimitation process and his party presented a memorandum to the Commission members during their J&K visit.
But more recently, Dr. Abdullah had expressed his anger on December 8 over the pace of the Commission on finalising its report.
“Being members of the Commission, we were neither invited nor shown any preliminary report. The Centre was deviating from its promise and assurance that there will be no extension to the Commission beyond March 6, 2022 for submitting its report to enable elections to the J&K Legislative Assembly,” Dr. Abdullah had said.
The Commission is mandated to carve out seven additional seats for the 83-member Assembly of the UT. It is also likely to announce reservation for the Schedule Tribes (ST) and Schedule Castes (SC) in its report.
Meanwhile, a senior Election Commission official in New Delhi said the draft delimitation plan was “almost ready”.
Asked whether separate representation for Kashmiri Pandits had been made, the official said no such recommendation had been finalised yet.
(With inputs from Damini Nath in New Delhi)
