The stage is set for the first-ever Assembly polls in the newly created UT of J&K as the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has initiated the process for the setting up of the Delimitation Commission to redraw the territorial limits of the 90 Assembly segments.
The Assembly polls will be held in J&K only after this panel submits its recommendations for demarcating the segments in the UT.
As the MHA had approached the Election Commission of India (ECI) to nominate one of its members for the panel, the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) on Monday nominated Sunil Arora, Election Commissioner, as its representative to the Delimitation Commission for J&K. “The three-member panel will be headed by sitting/retired Chief Justice of India and his name will be announced soon,” reports said, adding, “One member is likely to be from J&K.”
Highly placed sources said the MHA had taken the initiative to set up the Delimitation Commission on its own because the UT Administration had not approached the Centre in this regard. “We’ve not written any letter to the Centre. Indeed there is no need of our request to the MHA because being a UT, the Centre can take any initiative on its own,” a source said, adding, “The functioning of the panel is likely to be started soon.”(TNS)
