Explained: What does 'delimitation' mean in context of Jammu and Kashmir

Voters in Jammu and Kashmir. Pic/ AFP

The Delimitation Commission, set up to redraw the Assembly seats of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, has proposed six additional seats for the Jammu region and one for Kashmir Valley in its 'Paper 1' discussed with its five associate members on Monday.

Nine seats have been proposed for STs and seven for SCs in Jammu and Kashmir. This is the first time that seats have been proposed for STs in Jammu and Kashmir.

Although the Tribal community Gujjars and Bakerwals have welcomed the recommendations, political parties in Kashmir have claimed that it is the Indian government's way to ensure "no Kashmiri ever becomes the Chief Minister" as more seats have been proposed for Jammu rather than Kashmir.

But what is delimitation?

Delimitation is defined as "the act or process of fixing limits or boundaries of territorial constituencies in a country or a province having a legislative body."

In the Indian context, it means the process of redrawing boundaries of Lok Sabha and state Assembly seats to represent changes in the population. Only after this is done an election can be conducted.

The objective is to have equal representation to equal segments of the population and ensure a fair division of geographical areas so that all political parties or candidates contesting elections have a level playing field in terms of the number of voters.

In the normal course of events, the exercise is carried out every few years after Census to ensure that each seat has approximately an equal number of voters. The Parliament enacts a Delimitation Act under Article 82 of the Constitution and an independent high-powered panel known as the Delimitation Commission is constituted to carry out the exercise.

What does it mean for Jammu and Kashmir?

In the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, the delimitation of Lok Sabha seats was governed by the Indian Constitution, but the delimitation of its Assembly seats was governed separately by the Jammu and Kashmir Constitution and Jammu and Kashmir Representation of the People Act, 1957. The state was kept out of the delimitation exercise when it was carried out in the rest of the country in 2002-2008.

Following the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019, J&K lost its special status and became a Union Territory. A delimitation commission was constituted and asked to carve out Assembly and Parliament seats.

The completion of the delimitation exercise in the Valley means restart of the political process, paving way for elections to be held in the Union Territory which has been under Centre's rule since June 2018.

(With PTI inputs)