Precious Kashmir News
Srinagar, May 29: Terming constitution of the Delimitation Commission as unwarranted, National Conference (NC) on Friday said its three Members of Parliament (MPs) will not participate in the exercise.
The development comes a day after three party MPs, including its president Farooq Abdullah, were nominated to the Delimitation Commission set up by the Centre to assist the panel in redrawing parliamentary and assembly constituencies in J&K.
In a statement issued here, the NC said, ‘This delimitation commission is a product of the J&K Re-organisation Act 2019 which JKNC is challenging in and outside the SC. Participating in this delimitation Commission will be tantamount to accepting the events of 5th Aug 2019 which the NC is unwilling to do.’
‘According to the constitution of J&K, the constituencies of J&K were to be delimited in 2026 with rest of the country. The constituencies in the state were last delimited in 90s. Thereafter an amendment was made in the constitution of J&K unanimously passed in the state Assembly in which all the regional parties, Congress and BJP voted for this amendment to go with the delimitation with rest of the country in 2026. Therefore the constitution of the delimitation commission is unwarranted,’ the statement added.
The Lok Sabah Speaker on Thursday nominated all five Lok Sabha MPs from Jammu and Kashmir – three from the NC and two from the BJP – as ‘associate members’ of the Delimitation Commission to assist the panel in redrawing Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies in the newly-created union territory.
Besides Dr Abdullah, who was released in March after remaining in detention under Public Safety Act (PSA), NC MPs Hasnain Masoodi and Muhammad Akbar Lone are other two members nominated to the commission. Union Minister and Udhampur MP Jitendra Singh and Jammu-Poonch MP Jugal Kishore Sharma are the two BJP leaders on the panel.