Ghulam Nabi Azad reiterates demand for J&K statehood, then assembly polls

Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Saturday reiterated the demand for restoration of Jammu and Kashmir's statehood following which elections should be held.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event in Udhampur, the Congress leader said, "From day one, when all-party meeting was held, we have demanded statehood and elections. The government had agreed to both. We had kept a condition that first elections be held and then delimitation be done. That did not happen. We still want that first statehood to be given and then elections be held."

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on several occasions has said that the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir will be restored after the delimitation of constituencies and assembly elections.

Meanwhile, the Delimitation Commission, tasked with redrawing assembly seats in Jammu and Kashmir, has proposed increasing assembly seats in Jammu region by six to 43 and in Kashmir region from 46 to 47. It also proposed six additional assembly seats for the Jammu region and one for the Kashmir Valley as also nine seats for Scheduled Tribes and seven seats for Scheduled Castes in the Union Territory.

Reacting to the recommendation made by the commission, Azad had earlier said that seats reserved for Scheduled Caste should be distributed equally between Jammu and Kashmir regions.

The Commission shared Paper I describing the proposed seat allocation at the level of districts with all the members. They have been requested their views or suggestions by December 31, 2021.