Delimitation Commission and the altering landscape of J&K’s Electoral Map
In its interim report, the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Delimitation Commission recently proposed significant changes to the electoral map of J&K, initiating the process in June 2021. This alteration has raised several questions and has also been met with some criticism leading to discussions about the Delimitation Process as a whole.
Previous Distribution of J&K Constituencies
Historically, J&K as a state had an 87-member assembly which included 37 constituencies in the Jammu region, 46 in the Kashmir division and four in Ladakh. Additionally, 24 seats were reserved and kept vacant for Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK). The special status of J&K under Article 370 was abrogated on August 5, 2019 and the state was divided into two Union Territories namely J&K and Ladakh.
J&K Delimitation Commission’s Major Recommendations
The Delimitation Commission, acting under the mandate of the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019, has suggested increasing the assembly constituencies in J&K from 87 to 94. In terms of distribution, six additional seats are proposed for the Jammu province, thereby increasing their representation to 43 and one extra seat for the Kashmir province bringing their tally to 47. Besides these, the commission has also proposed redrawing of boundaries of most of the Assembly segments in J&K.
In terms of reservation, seven seats have been proposed for Scheduled Castes (SCs) who predominantly inhabit the Samba-Kathua-Jammu-Udhampur belt and nine seats for Scheduled Tribes (STs) dwelling mostly in the Rajouri-Poonch belt in the Jammu province. These STs are largely composed of non-Kashmiri speaking Muslims.
Criticism facing the Proposed Changes
The proposed changes have been criticised on several grounds. Firstly, the seat distribution has been questioned due to the larger population in the Kashmir province as compared to Jammu province. The commission, however, argues that considerations included factors such as topography, means of communication and convenience, not merely population size. Critics have also deemed the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019 as unconstitutional and the commission’s report as an arbitrary overhaul with little regard for terrain or population parameters.
Understanding Delimitation
Delimitation is the process of fixing or redrawing boundaries of territorial constituencies (Assembly or Lok Sabha seats) in a country or a province with a legislative body as determined by the Election Commission. This exercise aims to ensure equal representation to equal segments of the population. It involves altering constituency borders based on population size and can result in changes in the number of seats in a state.
Constitutional Basis for Delimitation
Under Article 82, the Parliament enacts a Delimitation Act after every Census. Similarly, under Article 170, states are divided into territorial constituencies as per the Delimitation Act after each Census. The Delimitation Commission is an independent body appointed by the President of India in collaboration with the Election Commission of India.
Necessity of Delimitation
Uneven population growth across different constituencies and migration from rural to urban areas lead to disparities in the sizes of electoral constituencies within the same state. Delimitation helps in rectifying these imbalances to ensure fair representation.
Issues associated with Delimitation
Some critical issues associated with delimitation include the risk of states with slow population control ending up with more seats in Parliament, while states encouraging family planning potentially having their seats reduced. In addition, the number of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha seats is capped at 550 and 250 respectively, which means increasing populations are represented by a single representative.