Delimitation Panel proposes 6 additional seats for Jammu and 1 for Kashmir

The Delimitation Commission set up to redraw the assembly seats of the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir has proposed six additional seats for Jammu region and one for Kashmir in its discussions with its five associate members on Monday.

With the Delimitation Commission's recommendation, the total seats in Jammu will increase to 43 and in the Kashmir Valley to 47. Nine seats have been proposed for STs and seven for SCs in Jammu and Kashmir.

The commission is headed by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Desai and also comprises Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra as an ex-officio member and the Jammu and Kashmir chief electoral officer.

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The five associate members who attended the meeting are BJP MPs Jugal Kishore and Dr Jitendra Singh, and National Conference MPs Farooq Abdullah, Justice (Retd) Hasnain Masoodi and Mohammad Akbar Lone. According to India Today, they have been asked to submit their response to the commission by December 30

The commission has time till March 6 next year to redraw the boundaries and create new constituencies.

Reacting to the proposal, ex-J&K chief minister and NC leader Omar Abdullah tweeted that the distribution of the newly created seats is not justified by the data of 2011 Census and that recommendation is unacceptable.

He also accused the panel of letting BJP's political agenda to dictate its recommendation.