The process of delimitation of Assembly and Lok Sabha seats is going on in Jammu and Kashmir. Meanwhile, the opposition to the delimitation has also intensified and the matter has reached the Supreme Court. An application has been filed in the Supreme Court saying that this process is against the right to equality, which all the states and union territories have got under the constitution. It has been said in the petition that the delimitation has been stayed till 2026 across the country. In such a situation, there is no reason for separate delimitation of Jammu and Kashmir. Let us inform that an application has also been filed in the Supreme Court against the removal of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir and reorganization of the state to form a union territory, which is yet to be heard.
The application filed by Haji Abdul Ghani Khan and Dr. Mohammad Ayub Mattoo, residents of Jammu and Kashmir, has been questioned, ‘When the delimitation in the entire country is to be done after 2026 according to Article 170 of the Constitution, then in Jammu and Kashmir separately. Why is the process happening? Not only this, the application has also opposed the proposal to increase the assembly seats in Jammu and Kashmir from 83 to 90. In the petition, the apex court has been demanded to declare the constitution of the Delimitation Commission as unconstitutional as it has been made against the rules.
The application states that the last time the Delimitation Commission was constituted was on July 12, 2002. This work was done on the basis of 2001 census and it was stipulated that now this process will be done only after 2026. It is worth noting that the process of delimitation is currently going on in Jammu and Kashmir and efforts are being made to complete it by June. It is also being said that after the process of delimitation, assembly elections can be held in Jammu and Kashmir by the end of this year or in early 2023.