J&K delimitation exercise begins

NEW DELHI:The Centre has finally initiated the process of setting up a Delimitation Commission for Jammu & Kashmir with the law ministry seeking nominations for the panel from the Election Commission of India and the new Union Territory.

The EC has nominated election commissioner Sushil Chandra while other nominations are still awaited.

The commission would be chaired by a retired Supreme Court judge. It is learnt that the Centre has begun shortlisting names and will notify the Delimitation Commission soon.

Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora has named Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra as his nominee for the proposed Delimitation Commission for Jammu and Kashmir.

A Commission spokesperson said following a request from the government, Arora named Chandra as his nominee for the proposed commission.

Before Parliament passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act in August last year, the effective strength of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly was 87 including four seats falling in Ladakh region which is now a separate UT without a legislature.

Twenty-four seats of the Assembly continue to remain vacant as they fall under Pakistan-administered Kashmir (PaK).

“…the number of seats in the Legislative Assembly of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir shall be increased from 107 to 114, and delimitation of the constituencies may be determined by the Election Commission in the manner hereinafter provided,” according to the J-K Reorganisation Act, 2019.

The law also said the Lok Sabha will have five seats from the UT of J-K, while Ladakh will have one seat

“On and from the appointed day, there shall be allocated five seats to the successor UT of J-K and one seat to UT of Ladakh, in the House of the People, and the

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Kashmir Monitor staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)