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| DELIMITATION COMMISSION: CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT NEEDED BEOFRE INCREASING NUMBER OF SEATS: EXPERTS | | | Jammu, July 10 :-The decision of the state Government to set up a delimitation commission has gripped majority of people in the two regions of Jammu and Kashmir by euphoria but the excitement may be a short lived affair in case the state Government does not get requisite constitutional amendment adopted by the state legislature during its session beginning from July 28.
The state legislature had adopted an amendment to the constitution when Dr Farooq Abdullah was the Chief Minister under which the Assembly seats had been frozen on the pattern of the bill adopted by the parliament providing for freezing of Lok Sabha and state Assembly seats till 2026.
The central bill had imposed no ban on readjustment and reorganization of the Assembly seats but without any increase in the number of constituencies.
Constitutional experts in the state said that unless the constitutional was amended the state Government cannot constitute a delimitation commission for increasing the number of Assembly seats.
The leader of the opposition Mr Abdul Rahim Rather said on Monday “ the state Government cannot go ahead with the setting up of the delimitation commission without amending the constitution.”
The vice President of the state unit of the BJP,Prof. Hari Om,told mediamen in Jammu “ said that the Chief Minister has committed a grave constitutional impropriety by negating the vary constitution under which we are governed.” He said the July 6 declaration on setting up the delimitation commission and Mr Azad’s announcement that the commission shall increase 25 Assembly seats in Jammu,Kashmir and Pakistan occupied Kashmir amounted to total subversion of the Representation of Peoples’ Act.
He added “what the Chief Minister announced was an unpardonable offence.”
The Chief Minister had also stated that “we are not in a hurry to constitute the delimitation commission because the next Assembly poll was due in 2008.” He said that the commission could be constituted six months before the next poll .According to observers here the Chief Minister’s statement indicates that the Government has sufficient time in case there was need for amending the relevant provisions of the constitution.Congress spokesperson Ravinder Sharma also expressed hope that before constituting delimitation commission an amendment bill would be introduced in the state legislature during the ensuing Assembly session in Srinagar beginning July 28.
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