Amit Shah reviews J&K situation as GoI mulls to set up delimitation commission

Union Home Minister Amit Shah was on Tuesday given a detailed presentation on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, where the BJP has been pushing for carrying out a delimitation exercise for getting more seats for Jammu region in the state assembly.

The Home Minister was briefed about the ground situation inthe sensitive state, which has been hit by militancy for the last three decadesand security arrangements being in place there, officials said.

   

Shah was also told about the security arrangements beingmade for the annual Amarnath yatra, slated to begin on July 1, a home ministryofficial said, adding he is likely to visit the state soon.

Shah also focused on security and development initiatives inJammu and Kashmir ahead of the Assembly elections likely in October-Novemberthis year, an official said.

It was learnt that the Home Minister emphasized to keep uppressure on militants and ensure an incident-free Assembly elections andAmarnath Yatra, the official said, adding that the situation in the borderareas was also discussed.

Issues concerning the Constitution’s Article 35A and Article370, which allows the state a separate flag and constitution, were alsodiscussed in the meeting in which Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba,Intelligence Bureau chief Rajiv Jain and Additional Secretary (Jammu andKashmir) Kumar Gyanesh and top officials of the ministry were present.

Since assuming charge on June 1, Shah has held two meetingsover Jammu and Kashmir’s issues and the one on Tuesday was the third.

The meeting comes at a time when the state BJP has beenraising the issue of withdrawal of a 16-year-old freeze on carrying outdelimitation exercise in the state.

Against the backdrop of delimitation demands by the stateBJP, officials said there was a possibility of the new Central governmentconstituting a delimitation commission to redraw the scope and size of theAssembly segments and determine the number of seats to be reserved forSchedules Castes.

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