As the debate about the legitimacy to the delimitation commission is going on in the backdrop of the boycott of the maiden meet of the commission by three of the five parliament members from Jammu & Kashmir representing valley’s three Lok Sabha constituencies and an appeal by Lt Governor to political parties for cooperation in the delimitation exercise, the participation or no participation by the parliament members hardly matters as parliament members being the associate members have neither voting nor signing right in recommendation of the delimitation panel . There is nothing wrong with the constitution of commission but surely there is a controversial clause in the delimitation Act 2002 which as per it’s section 5 asks the delimitation commission to only associate parliament members and the assembly of the concerned state or the union territory with no voting or signing rights. Though the section 5 of the delimitation Act 2002 asks the delimitation commission to put record the views of the parliament members as associate members of the panel in the notification of delimitation but the same are not binding like the recommendations of the full fledged members. To make the delimitation exercise democratically flexible the incumbent central government could have amended the delimitation act 2002 to give voting and signing rights to parliament members as associate members and make their views binding on the delimitation panel keeping in view the absence of a popular government in Jammu & Kashmir. So the critics of the boycott of the delimitation panel meetings by Kashmir’s three parliament members within and outside Jammu & Kashmir before delivering sermons on participation should have explained the purpose of participation by the parliament members in the delimitation panel meetings.
While the fact remains that central government has not bothered to evolve a consensus even over a single law or executive order over citizenship rights implemented in Jammu & Kashmir after August 5,2019 constitutional moves by the incumbent central government over erstwhile state since bifurcated into two union territories, the political parties are just trying their best to set into motion an atmosphere for the reconciliation with the institutional and constitutional changes being implemented by the central government after August 2019.
Reducing the role of parliament members for just attendance and record of their observations in the delimitation panel meetings in the absence of a popular government in Jammu & Kashmir is an insult to democracy and a blow to policy of consensus in democracy as claimed by none else than the Prime Minister of the country in one of his latest remarks over the implementation of farm laws. While the fact remains that central government has not bothered to evolve a consensus even over a single law or executive order over citizenship rights implemented in Jammu & Kashmir after August 5,2019 constitutional moves by the incumbent central government over erstwhile state since bifurcated into two union territories, the political parties are just trying their best to set into motion an atmosphere for the reconciliation with the institutional and constitutional changes being implemented by the central government after August 2019.
