Context
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with political leaders from Jammu and Kashmir is being seen as an important prelude to kick-starting political activity in the union territory (UT), which has been suspended since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.
The elections in Jammu and Kashmir will be held after the delimitation exercise is concluded.
About the Delimitation Process
- Delimitation refers to the process of demarcation of the boundaries of parliamentary or assembly constituencies.
- The process is carried out by delimitation commission every few years to ensure that each constituency has approximately an equal number of voters.
Delimitation Commission:
- After every census, Parliament enacts a Delimitation Act under Article 82 of the Constitution.
- Under this act, a high-powered body known as the Delimitation Commission is constituted.
- It carries out the process of demarcation of constituency boundaries.
- The orders of this commission are legally binding and not subject to the scrutiny of any court of law.
- Even Parliament cannot suggest modifications to an order issued by the commission.
- The commission is a temporary body with no full-fledged staff of its own.
- It relies on EC employees to carry out the long-drawn exercise.
- Census data for each district, tehsil and gram panchayat is collected, and the new boundaries are demarcated.
- The exercise can take up to five years.
- Structure of Delimitation Commission: The commission consists of
- A chairman — a retired or sitting judge of the Supreme Court
- The chief election commissioner or any of the two election commissioners
- The election commissioner of the state in which the exercise is being carried out.
- In addition, five MPs and five MLAs of the state are chosen as associate members of the commission.
How has delimitation been different in J&K?
- A delimitation commission was first constituted for J&K in 1952.
- Subsequently, they were constituted in 1963, 1973 and 2002.
- Delimitation in J&K has followed a slightly different trajectory than in the rest of the country, due to the special status it was accorded under Article 370.
- While delimitation of Lok Sabha seats in J&K was governed by the Constitution of India, that of the erstwhile state’s Assembly seats was governed by the Jammu and Kashmir Constitution and specifically, the Jammu and Kashmir Representation of the People Act, 1957.
- The last time a delimitation exercise was conducted in J&K was under President’s Rule in 1995 by the retired Justice K.K. Gupta’s Commission.
- The next exercise was due in 2005, but in 2002, the Farooq Abdullah government chose to freeze delimitation until 2026 by amending the Jammu & Kashmir Representation of the People Act, 1957, and Section 47(3) of the Constitution of Jammu & Kashmir.
- It is argued that the freeze enforced in 2002 has led to poorer representation for Jammu
- The delimitation of J&K is a politically volatile issue since it is directly related to the representation of Muslim-dominated Kashmir and Hindu-dominated Jammu in the legislative assembly.
- A delimitation commission, headed by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai, was set up by the government in 2020.
