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| Congress to pay a heavy price in Jammu | | Delimitation Issue | | Rustam
JAMMU, Feb 28: The NC-Congress coalition government on February 26 again disappointed people of Jammu province by rejecting an important private member's bill that had sought constitution of delimitation commission to delimit the assembly constituencies de novo and give due representation to this province in the Assembly as per the criteria laid down by the Representation of People's Act (RPA). The manner in which the ruling coalition rejected the bill established that the people of Jammu province have little or no say in and that the NC-Congress coalition continues to pursue the same old ignore-Jammu line to ensure that the ruling elite in Kashmir remains in the driver's seat. It bears recalling that it was in February 2002 that the NC government amended the Representation of People's Act to ban delimitation of the assembly constituencies and the amendment had said that delimitation exercise could take place after census operation to be conducted after 2026 (read after 2031). The Congress had supported what the people called "anti-democratic and anti-Jammu move".
The rejection of the private member's bill on delimitation commission will not really harm the NC. The NC is not concerned with Jammu province. Its constituency is Kashmir and it, like other Kashmir-based political parties, would never support any move that meets even the genuine needs of the people of Jammu province. The NC has already in a way raised its hands in Jammu province by placing this province at the disposal of the Congress and focusing only on Kashmir. And it has been happening since 2009, when it entered into pre-poll alliance with Congress and contested the Lok Sabha elections only in Kashmir province. It has entered into a similar pre-poll alliance for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
It is the Congress which will be at the receiving end in Jammu province, where its stakes are very high considering the fact that anti-Congress tsunami is sweeping the country. It had held a categorical commitment in 2002 and 2008 that, if voted to power, it would set up delimitation commission and remove regional imbalance as far as the representation of Jammu province and Kashmir region was concerned, but it did nothing whatsoever in this regard. On the contrary, it consistently made common cause with its Kashmir-based and Kashmir-centric allies and openly defeated all such moves as were aimed at giving to people of Jammu province due representation in the assembly. Congress MLA and former cabinet minister Ghulam Mohammad Saroori did try to defend his party by saying that Ghulam Nabi Azad during his regime had tried to set up the delimitation commission but couldn't do so in the absence of two-thirds majority. He asked the people to give the Congress two-third majority in the assembly so that it could amend the RPA and constitute delimitation commission. This will never happen. It is difficult to say if the Congress would retain its hold over the constituencies it at present represents both in the assembly and the Lok Sabha, as the political environment in the state doesn't suit it.
Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Saifullah Mir of the NC misled the House. He reportedly said: "We had only followed the Parliament law...The state would have to wait for delimitation till 2026 and till then there was no scope". He did not inform the House that the Parliament law had only said that the number of seats will not be increased till 2026. It had not barred any state from delimiting the assembly constituencies and nor did it bar the Union Government from delimiting the Lok sabha constituencies. Fact is that the assembly constituencies across the country, barring Jammu and Kashmir, have been delimited after 2002. The people of Jammu province are fully aware of everything and, hence, they will punish the Congress in the upcoming Lok Sabha and assembly elections. |
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