Most political parties in J&K, with the exception of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on Thursday expressed disappointment over the final draft of the J&K Delimitation Commission, which has redrawn boundaries to add six additional constituencies to the Jammu division and one to the Kashmir division, to take seat strength to 90 in the Union Territory.
“Population is the fundamental criteria in any delimitation exercise while connectivity, contiguity and convenience are next to be followed. Here is the case where fundamental as well as the secondary criteria have been ignored. It is clearly designed to disempower and disenfranchise people,” National Conference (NC) leader and MP Hasnain Masoodi, who is also an associate member of the panel, told The Hindu.
The NC, which had earlier boycotted the panel but decided to participate after top party leaders met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an all-party meeting in June 2021, termed the fresh draft as ”an attempt to ensure that the BJP gets an advantage in the elections”.
