5-member NC delegation to meet Delimitation Commission in J&K, Mehbooba Mufti's PDP to skip

File Image of PAGD leaders

Srinagar: A five-member delegation of the National Conference (NC) will meet the Delimitation Commission, arriving on a four-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday.

According to reports, the Omar Abdullah-led party has nominated Abdul Raheem Rather, Mohammad Shafi Uri, Mian Altaf Ahmad, Nasir Aslam Wani and Sakina Ittoo to meet the delimitation commission at a hotel here.

They will represent the party and put forward their viewpoints and suggestions before the commission, a National Conference leader said. The commission has allotted 20 minutes to each party to put forth their views about the delimitation process in Jammu and Kashmir, the NC leader said.

The NC has been given a time slot of 5.10 pm to 5.30 pm, he added. 

However, Mehbooba Mufti’s PDP will skip the meeting with the delimitation commission in Jammu & Kashmir. Mehbooba’s stand comes a day after the Gupkar Alliance expressed “disappointment” with the meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi, saying the Centre had failed to act on Confidence Building Measures such as the release of political prisoners and “taking concrete steps to end the siege & atmosphere of suppression that has choked J&K since 2019”.

The PDP has sent a letter to the Delimitation Commission, saying the party will stay away from proceedings, as per ANI

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Leaders of BJP, Congress, CPI, CPI (Marxist), BSP, National Conference, Panthers Party, J&K People's Conference & J&K Apni Party to meet Delimitation Commission in Srinagar today; no meeting with PDP leaders scheduled — ANI (@ANI) July 6, 2021

The delimitation commission, which comprises Justice (Retd) Ranjana Prakash Desai, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sushil Chandra, and Deputy Election Commissioner Chandra Bhushan, will meet political leaders of national and regional registered political parties. 

The purpose of this interaction will be to gather “first-hand" information about the conduct of the mega exercise to carve out new constituencies in J&K.

The commission's visit comes within a fortnight of the high-level meeting of eight political parties from Jammu and Kashmir with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on June 24.

The commission has invited the leaders of all national, regional and registered political parties of Jammu and Kashmir for separate meetings during its visit to the union territory.

However, People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), an amalgam of six parties including the NC and the PDP, had on Monday said no joint decision has been taken on taking part in the proceedings of the commission and it was left to the individual parties to decide whether they want to participate. 

"As far as the PAGD is concerned, our stand is that these are autonomous bodies and the respective political parties will decide about it (participating in commission's meeting). Whatever the parties think is suitable for them, they will take steps accordingly," PAGD spokesperson and CPI(M) leader M Y Tarigami said.