A delegation of the BJP’s Jammu and Kashmir unit met the Delimitation Commission here on Thursday and freed 24 assembly seats in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to provide reservation to displaced people from PoK, Kashmir Pandits, SCs and STs.
The delegation led by Jammu and Kashmir BJP President Ravinder Raina also demanded adequate representation for Jammu in the assembly.
The Delimitation Commission, led by Justice (Retd) Ranjana Prakash Desai, reached Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday on a four-day visit to hold talks with leaders and officials of political parties, to gather “first hand” inputs for the mega exercise of rescheduling Can go Carving out new ones in constituencies and union territories.
Once the delimitation exercise is completed, the number of assembly seats in J&K will increase from 83 to 90. Twenty-four seats of the Vidhan Sabha remain vacant as they come under PaK.
“We demanded political reservation for PaJK refugees by removing eight assembly seats from PaJK quota, three seats for Kashmiri Pandits, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and other marginalized people. Jammu should also get adequate representation in the assembly.
The BJP delegation that met the commission included former deputy chief ministers Nirmal Singh and Kavinder Gupta, BJP chief spokesperson Sunil Sethi and former MLA RS Pathania.