New Delhi/Feb,18: After the first meeting of the Delimitation Commission for Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, Minister of State In The Prime Minister’s Office (MoS In PMO) Jitendra Singh questioned the boycott of the key meet by National Conference MPs Dr Farooq Abdullah , Mohammad Akbar Lone and Justice (Retd) Hasnain Masoodi for skipping the meeting.
Talking to reporters after the meeting, the Union Minister said that the “first meeting went well.” He said that some members did not turn up for the meeting and “it is a delimitation exercise and not a platform for political posturing nor does it gets registered with EC.”
“It’s (Delimitation Commission) a constitutionally constituted body. Any stand taken against it is itself unconstitutional. When a member refuses to attend the meeting, he is denying the voices of his electorate being heard in this forum,” the Union Minister said.
“On one hand, these members stand in Parliament and say that we should have an elected Legislative Assembly in Jammu and Kashmir but when a positive headway is made in that direction, they refuse to cooperate. They owe an answer to people who have sent them to Parliament,” he added. National Conference MPs led by party president Farooq Abdullah on Wednesday this week informed the Delimitation Commission for Jammu and Kashmir that they won’t participate in its proceedings as the abrogation of the erstwhile state’s special status was pending adjudication before the Supreme Court.
