Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said that the delimitation exercise concluded in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and asserted that he strongly believes the electoral process in valley will commence by the end of this year. Singh is on a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir which started on Thursday. During his visit, the senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader also reviewed the overall security situation in the Union territory.
“Recently, the delimitation exercise concluded in J&K. Now, Jammu will have 43 seats and Kashmir will have 47 seats in Vidhan Sabha. There’s a strong possibility that the electoral process will commence by the end of this year in J&K,” Singh said while addressing an event in Jammu.
Recently, the Election Commission initiated the delimitation exercise in Jammu & Kashmir and directed concerned officials to prepare the draft rolls by August 31.
Jammu and Kashmir delimitation commission’s order on electoral segments in the Union Territory came into effect on May 20 after the Central government issued the notification in this regard.
In its reorganisation of electoral segments, the commission has delimited 90 assembly seats for J&K out of which 47 are for the Kashmir division 43 for Jammu division.
For the first time, 9 seats have been reserved for scheduled tribe (ST) candidates and 7 for the scheduled caste (SC) candidates. However, the commission did not make any delimitation for the 24 seats reserved for the Pakistan-occupied part of Jammu and Kashmir.
Furthermore, Singh once again slammed Pakistan and said that the neighbouring country is sowing the seeds of hatred in the valley.
“There’s foreign conspiracy in recent targeted killings in J&K, we need to foil such attempts. We won’t let the forceful migration happen of any person from any religion or section,” Singh said.
On Thursday, Singh had said that Pakistan is continuously trying to disturb peace in Jammu and Kashmir through its approach of “bleed India with a thousand cuts”, but warned that a befitting reply will be given if attempt is made to hurt the unity and integrity of the nation.