- Delimitation became necessary when the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019 increased the number of seats in the Assembly.
- The erstwhile J&K state had 111 seats — 46 in Kashmir, 37 in Jammu, and 4 in Ladakh — plus 24 seats reserved for Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
- In the erstwhile state, delimitation of parliamentary constituencies was governed by the Constitution of India and that of Assembly seats was carried out by the then state government under the Jammu and Kashmir Representation of the People Act, 1957.
- After abrogation of J&K’s special status in 2019, the delimitation of both Assembly and parliamentary seats is governed by the Constitution.
- The Delimitation Commission was set up on 6th March 2020.
- It was headed by retired Supreme Court Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, it has the Chief Election Commissioner and J&K’s Chief Electoral Officer as members, and J&K’s five MPs as associate members.
What Changes Have Been Made?
- Legislative Assembly: The Commission has increased seven Assembly seats — six in Jammu (now 43 seats) and one in Kashmir (now 47).
- It has also made massive changes in the structure of the existing Assembly seats.
- Lok Sabha: There are five Parliamentary Constituencies in the region. The Delimitation Commission has seen the Jammu & Kashmir region as one single Union Territory.
- The Commission has redrawn the boundaries of Anantnag and Jammu seats.
- Jammu’s Pir Panjal region, comprising Poonch and Rajouri districts and formerly part of Jammu parliamentary seat, has now been added to Anantnag seat in Kashmir.
- Also, a Shia-dominated region of Srinagar parliamentary constituency has been transferred to Baramulla constituency.
- Kashmiri Pandits: The Commission has recommended provision of at least two members from the community of Kashmiri Migrants (Kashmiri Hindus) in the Legislative Assembly.
- It has also recommended that Centre should consider giving representation in the J&K Legislative Assembly to the displaced persons from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, who migrated to Jammu after Partition.
- Scheduled Tribes: Total nine seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes for the first time.
Why has Exercise been Controversial?
- Constituency boundaries are being redrawn only in J&K when delimitation for the rest of the country has been frozen until 2026.
- The last delimitation exercise in J&K was carried out in 1995.
- In 2002, the then J&K government amended the J&K Representation of the People Act to freeze the delimitation exercise until 2026, as in the rest of the country.
- This was challenged in the J&K High Court and then the Supreme Court, both of which upheld the freeze.
- Also, while delimitation as a rule is carried out on the basis of Census population, the Commission said it would take certain other factors into consideration for J&K, including size, remoteness and closeness to the border.