Linking assembly polls in J&K with delimitation is bizarre: Tarigami

CPI (M) State Secretary Muhammad Yusuf Tarigami said that the decision of the Government of India (GoI) to link holding of assembly elections with delimitation process in Jammu and Kashmir is most bizarre as redrawing of the constituencies could have been done after holding the polls just like Assam.

A statement of CPI (M) issued here said quoted Tarigamui as saying that in Assam, the Election Commission first notified and then de-notified the delimitation process last year.

   

He said that this was done to ensure that assembly polls in Assam which were scheduled to be held in next few weeks were held on time.

“Why couldn’t the same logic apply to Jammu and Kashmir? Why weren’t assembly polls held in J&K with parliamentary polls in 2019 or since November 2018 when the assembly was dissolved? Even the constitution of India was amended twice. The 42nd Amendment in 1976 and the 84th Amendment in 2002 deferred the delimitation of constituencies till the first population census after 2026 that is effectively till 2031. By bypassing the Delimitation Act of 2002 in the case of J&K, the Delimitation Commission’s mandate has been severely compromised ab initio,” Tarigami said.

He said that J&K’s special unique situation was always an eyesore for the BJP and RSS.

“Holding of election, which is a universally acceptable principle, and the Constitution of India which says that the assembly should be formed in time has been denied to the people of J&K since November 2018. Not only has the BJP government failed to hold assembly polls in J&K but it has also dismantled the entire state,” Tarigami said.

He said that before and after the abrogation of special status of J&K under Article 370 and bifurcation of the erstwhile state into two union territories on August 5, 2019, the BJP leadership had been delaying the assembly polls on one or the other pretext.

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