Afaq Bhat
Srinagar, May 7: Assembly and parliamentary constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir have been redrawn. The Delimitation Commission has recommended 43 assembly seats for Jammu and 47 for Kashmir. Till now there were 46 seats in Kashmir region and 37 seats are in Jammu division. But now the equation has changed.
Political parties in Kashmir have reacted sharply to the redrawing of the constituencies and most of them have termed the report as “biased.” “The recommendations of the Delimitation Panel are final and there is no possibility about any changes being made. The time has come for political parties to put their act together and gear-up for the forthcoming assembly elections in the Union Territory,” a politician told Precious Kashmir.
He said, “None of the parties will find it easy. Jammu has only four lesser seats than Kashmir.”
For the first time, nine Assembly Constituencies have been reserved for the Scheduled Tribes, out of which, six are in Jammu region and three in Kashmir. The constitution of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state had no provision for the reservation of seats for Scheduled Tribes in the Legislative Assembly.
The politician said that the competition is going to be stiff and things are not going to be that easy for any political party. “National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have dropped enough hints about contesting the elections jointly. Leaders of both the parties are aware of the fact that winning elections is not going to be a cakewalk. They will have to work very hard to regain their lost ground,” he added.
According to the political observers, Jammu based political parties are also facing a tough challenge as during the past 2-years many small political parties have cropped up and these can divide the votes of the bigger parties. “There is no doubt about the fact that Jammu region can play a pivotal role in the government formation and Kashmir based parties will have to rely on Jammu to form the government. To win seats in Jammu region is not going to be an easy task for the parties from the Valley but they will make an attempt,” said an observer.
He said, “The Congress Party becoming weak in Jammu has provided direct advantage to BJP but the small parties and Aam Admi Party making an entry into Jammu region can prove to be a big challenge for the BJP.”
As the political equations are shaping up the things for political parties in both regions i.e. Kashmir and Jammu look difficult and it appears that wooing voters is not going to be that easy.
Delimitation Commission Report: Changed political equations to make things difficult for political parties
