By: Ibni Maqbool
Srinagar: Nearly one-and-a-half months after the delimitation commission unveiled a new electoral map of Jammu & Kashmir, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has appointed returning officers for five Lok Sabha seats of the Union Territory.
In a notification, a copy of which is in possession of The Precious Kashmir, the poll-body has designated five deputy commissioners as returning officers for five Lok Sabha seats of Jammu & Kashmir.
According to the notification, deputy commissioner Baramulla will be returning officer for Baramulla Lok Sabha seat while DC Srinagar will be returning officer for Srinagar Lok Sabha seat.
Similarly, DC Kathua will be returning officer for Udhampur Lok Sabha seat and DC Jammu will be returning officer for Jammu parliamentary segment.
The DC Anantnag has been appointed as returning officer for Anantnag- Rajouri Lok Sabha seats.
It is worthwhile to mention that the delimitation commission unveiled its final order on delimiting of Assembly and Lok Sabha seats of Jammu and Kashmir on May 05. The order came into effect on May 20 with issuance of a notification by the Central Government.
The appointments of returning officers have been made by the poll-body after consultation with the Government of UT of Jammu and Kashmir.
Jammu and Kashmir has five Lok Sabha seats. As per delimitation exercise carried out by a three-member committee headed by Justice (Retd) Ranjana Desai, each parliamentary constituency will have an equal number of 18 assembly constituencies each.