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| Without fresh delimitation of assembly segments regional imbalance can't end | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Jan 25: When shall the glaring error in the distribution of Assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir get corrected ?This question has been bothering the people of the regions of Jammu and Ladakh for the last about 30 years.
If political pundits and the constitutional experts are to be believed this very defective distribution of Assembly and Lok Sabha segments has been the main cause for the four decade long regional discrimination in Jammu an Kashmir.This regional discrimination has taken so much firm roots that one can never imagine political power getting transferred from the Kashmir valley to the Jammu region.
Sheikh Abdullah had become aware of the level of regional discrimination and he was the first chief Minister in the state to have accepted the recommendations of the Gajendragadkar commission by appointing a legislator from the region of Jammu as Deputy Chief Minister.And this practice was strictly followed by Mufti Mohd.Sayeed when he headed the coalition Government between 2002 and 2005.His two successors,Ghulam Nabi Azad and Omar Abdullah, too have adopted the same procedure.
But having a Deputy Chief Minister from Jammu is not being considered sufficient to dilute the level of regional discrimination. Critics argue that even if another recommendation of Gajendragadkar commission, relating to the equal representation of the Jammuites in the council of ministers, is accepted it too may not reduce the size of regional imbalance.
Political pundits firmly believe that increasing the number of Assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies in the region of Jammu alone could undo prolonged regional discrimination. They dish out a simple argument in favour of their contention.
These pundits ask is it genuine to have 37 Assembly constituencies in the Jammu region which has 26 per cent of the state's total area and over 46 per cent population against Kashmir valley's 46 Assembly segments when its area is 16 per cent and the population about 51 per cent?Even if the size of the population is to be made the basis for carving out additional Assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies the state legislature needs to amend the constitution so that the region of Ladakh,which has 58 per cent of the total area of the state and 3.5 per cent population had not to remain content with four Assembly and one Lok Sabha constituency.
As compared to Ladakh the region of Jammu has been given a raw deal by the successive Kashmir centric Governments. Had it not been the case the state constitution would have been amended so that a fresh delimitation commission could have recommended increase of Assembly constituencies from 37 to 45 for Jammu region.
Since the constitution can be amended only when the National Conference and the PDP support the Jammu centric Congress, BJP and the Panthers Party that have been demanding the amendment so that one had not to wait till 2026 when a new delimitation commission can be set up.
Whether in the past or at present the Congress, even if it joins hands with the BJP and the Panthers, cannot muster the support of a two-third majority of MLAs needed for amending the constitution. Both the Kashmir centric NC and the PDP have fears on increasing the number of Assembly segments in the Jammu region.They apprehend that once the number of Assembly constituencies in the Jammu region was increased to 46 or more it could facilitate transfer of power from the valley to Jammu.
These fears do not seem to be genuine because neither the Congress,nor the BJP nor the Panthers Party is able to win over 44 seats separately. At the sametime the Kashmir centric political parties and politicians need to know that there is no constitutional restriction on power getting transferred from Kashmir to the Jammu region in case a political party or a couple of parties win more than 44 seats required for forming the Government.
Day in and day out the successive state Government, including the one that is headed by Omar Abdullah, have been swearing in the name of regional parity and balance but that situation is nowhere in sight. Hence if the NC and the PD really want regional imbalance to go the two should help others in getting the constitution amended facilitating fresh delimitation of Assembly constituencies.(eom)
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