Fayaz Bukhari
Srinagar, Feb 6: The draft proposal by the 3-member Delimitation Commission has recommended massive changes in the existing Assembly segments, adding new constituencies in place of older ones.
In the Valley, 10 Assembly constituencies have been replaced by new constituencies and one new constituency, Trehgam in Kupwara has been added.
In Srinagar, out of eight constituencies, four have been replaced. Those which have been replaced include Habba Kadal, Amira Kadal, Batamaloo and Zadibal while new constituencies added in their place are South Srinagar, Chanpora, Central Shalteng and Zonimar. The names of four constituencies of Hazratbal, Sonwar, Eidgah and Khanyar have been retained but there have been massive redrawing of boundaries in all the eight constituencies of the district.
Amira Kadal which has been previously held by Apni Party chairman, Syed Altaf Bukhari, is no longer there. Its areas have been added to several other constituencies with Chanpora which was part of it, is becoming a new constituency.
Habba Kadal which was supposed to be having significant Pandit population is no longer a constituency in the draft proposal. Its areas have been added to several other constituencies.
The new South Srinagar constituency has areas from parts of South Srinagar and Khanyar Tehsils; Chanpora constituency has only Chanpora Tehsil; Central Shalteng constituency has entire Central Shalteng Tehsil and Zonimar constituency has areas from parts of Eidgah Tehsil while other parts of the Tehsil have been put in Eidgah constituency as per the draft proposal.
There has been no change in Ganderbal and Kangan constituencies of Ganderbal district while re-organization has taken place as per the draft proposal. However, Kangan has been reserved for Scheduled Tribe Category.
The names of the five constituencies of Budgam – Budgam, Beerwah, Khan Sahib, Chadoora and Charar-e-Sharif- have been retained in the draft proposal but redrawing of the boundaries has been done. The worst affected are the Chadoora and Charar-e-Sharif as there have been major redrawing of boundaries there.
As per the proposal, Trehgam constituency in district Kupwara has been added to Kashmir valley. Keran area which were with Karnah constituency have been added to Trehgam besides several areas from Kupwara constituency. There has been massive redrawing of boundaries in all constituencies of the district with Langate that has been previously held by Abdul Rashid Sheikh (Rashid Engineer) worst hit.
In Baramulla district, Gulmarg and Sangrama constituencies are no longer there in the draft proposal while two new constituencies of Tangmarg and Kunzer have appeared in their place. There has also been redrawing of boundaries of all the constituencies with parts of Gulmarg constituency been added to Tangmarg and Kunzer. Many areas from Sangrama have been added to Tangmarg constituency.
In Bandipora district, there have also been redrawing of boundaries of Sonawari and Bandipora Assembly constituency while Gurez has been reserved for ST. Safapora, a part of Sonawari constituency, will be part of Ganderbal constituency while Ajas, presently part of Bandipora constituency, has been added to Sonawari.
The Pulwama district has retained its all four constituencies of Pulwama, Rajpora, Pampore and Tral but there has been massive re-drawing of the boundaries in all these constituencies in the draft proposal.
The Wachi constituency in Shopian district is no longer there in the draft proposal and a new constituency, Zainapora has replaced it. However, there has been redrawing of boundaries in both Shopian and Zainapora constituencies.
The Kulgam district had four constituencies of Noorabad, Kulgam, Devsar and Home Shalibug. In the new draft proposal, there are only three constituencies in the district. Kulgam and Devsar have been retained and while Noorabad and Home Shalibugh are no longer there and one new constituency of DH Pora has been added. There has also been massive redrawing of boundaries in these constituencies.
In Anantnag district, there were six constituencies while in the draft proposal the constituency that has been deleted from Kulgam has been added to Anantnag. A new constituency – Lernoo, which is reserved for ST has been carved out from the parts of Kokernag, Shangus tehsils and Tehsil Larnoo. The Kokernag constituency which was once held by former Congress president Peerzada Sayeed has is no longer there in the draft proposal. So is not the Shangus constituency. However, two new constituencies of Anantnag West and Anantnag East have been formed as per draft proposal. There has also been massive redrawing of boundaries in these constituencies.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
