Assembly elections may be held in Jammu and Kashmir in November-December, voter lists will be ready from next month in 90 areas

The final order of the Delimitation Commission has become fully effective. The commission's report will form the basis for future assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. The notification has been issued by the Union Ministry of Law and Justice. Now there are 90 assembly constituencies. The process of preparing voter lists for the assembly elections will start soon.

Let us inform you that the Delimitation Commission constituted in March 2020 under the chairmanship of Justice (Retd) Ranjana Desai submitted the report on May 5, 2022, only. The process of preparation of voter lists in the 90 assembly constituencies constituted as per the order of the Delimitation Commission will also start during the next month. After the lists are ready, the elections will probably be held in November-December.

The Delimitation Commission, during the process of increasing seven new seats in Jammu and Kashmir, has rationalized the form of several old assembly constituencies by changing them. Many areas have been carved out of their earlier assembly constituencies and included in some other constituencies. The nature of the five parliamentary constituencies has changed in the state. Now each parliamentary constituency has 18 assembly constituencies. The fifth parliamentary constituency has been carved out of Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch, Rajouri, and Anantnag, creating two parliamentary constituencies each.

Before the implementation of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act on August 5, 2019, elections were held for 87 seats in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, while 24 seats, representing slave Jammu and Kashmir, were kept vacant. There is no choice on these. Of the 87 seats in the Jammu and Kashmir state assembly, Jammu had 37, Kashmir province 46, and Ladakh four. After the Reorganization Act, Ladakh became a separate Union Territory and Jammu and Kashmir became a separate Union Territory.

Apart from 83 assembly seats in Jammu and Kashmir, 24 seats remained in slave Jammu and Kashmir. Under the Reorganization Act, delimitation of assembly constituencies is necessary before the constitution of the Legislative Assembly in Jammu and Kashmir. Under this, the Delimitation Commission was constituted. The Delimitation Commission has prepared its final report only after meeting with various political, social, and civil society organizations of the state for two years.

The Delimitation Commission increased the seats by six in Jammu and one in Kashmir. The number of seats increased to 43 in Jammu and 47 in Kashmir. Nine seats have been reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST) and seven for Scheduled Castes (SC).

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