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| Congress to show Jammu card | | Bill on delimitation being brought in assembly | | Early Times Reporter
Jammu | Jan 10
If what Mangat Ram Sharma said today goes by his words, the Congress is up for playing a major 'Jammu-Centric' card which may not bring the desired results but will certainly make a hero out of the Congress.
The senior Congress leader and Health Minister Mangat Ram Sharma today said in legislative assembly that the government will introduce a bill to increase the number of assembly seats in the current session of the house, under the process of delimitation in the state. "A bill to increase the number of assembly seats in the state will be introduced in the current session of the house under delimitation process".
Delimitation is a major issue which holds key to public mood in Jammu region. By way of delimitation of the assembly constituencies, the Jammu region will be the major beneficiary. At present there is a lopsided distribution of assembly seats between Kashmir and Jammu region which puts the Kashmir region in a dominant position.
For years, this has been a major issue in the Jammu region but none of the parties could dare talk of it as the Kashmir based political leadership is averse to any step which may empower Jammu politically.
This was a part of the Common Minimum Program of the coalition government and also a major part of the Congress' 2002 election manifesto. For first three years when the PDP leader Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was the Chief Minister this issue remained under carpet as he did not take risk of upsetting his Kashmir constituency.
It was in July 2006 that the state cabinet under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, besides other major decisions, announced to enhance the number of assembly seats by 25 per cent of the existing seats. Initially this was welcomed by all, but soon protests arouse in Jammu region as the leadership here had demanded increase in the number of assembly segments proportionate to the population and also considering other geographical problems. The 25 per cent hike in the number of seats though would have added some more seats but distribution would have again remained lopsided.
Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad had said last year that to give the delimitation a practical shape, the legislature needs to clear it. The senior Congress leader Mangat Ram Sharma today said that the government is all set to bring a bill to this effect. While this will enhance the image of Congress in Jammu region but position of other parties including the Peoples Democratic Party and the National Conference will have a lot of bearing on this legislation. |
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