National Conference President Dr Farooq Abdullah on Monday stated that the party pulled out itself from Delimitation Commission as ruling dispensation in New Delhi BJP was trying to create Hindu hegemony in JK, a Muslim majority region, to divide the UT on religious lines.
“We told them on their face that we do not believe in your delimitation. The BJP has a certain purpose behind. It wants JK to be a Hindu dominated region and wishes Muslim majority goes down”, Dr Farooq said. He was talking to a national daily.
Notably the Centre in March this year set up the commission to redraw parliamentary and assembly constituencies based on the recent census in Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Nagaland.
Dr Farooq asserted when he was Chief Minister, the assembly of the erstwhile state of JK decided to go for the delimitation exercise along with the rest of the country in 2026. “Why has the Centre suddenly brought it forward? They want to divide us on the Hindu-Muslim lines and create Hindu dominance in JK, but it will never happen”, he said.
Earlier PM Narendra Modi referred to delimitation exercise in his Independence Day speech and said the process in underway and assembly elections would follow in Jammu and Kashmir.
When asked about the participation in upcoming LA polls, Dr Farooq said “any decision will depend first on my party and we will take a call subject to the situation. We will talk to other stakeholders of the Gupkar Declaration in this regard. If we are united in this exercise, we will take them on board and decide future course of action”. (KNS)