Opposition must decide joint response: CM Omar on proposed delimitation bill

Srinagar : Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said the INDIA bloc must collectively decide its response to the proposed parliamentary bill, stressing that a unified stand was necessary.

Speaking with reporters in Srinagar, the Chief Minister, per news agency, raised concerns over past delimitation exercises, alleging that constituency restructuring had politically favoured the BJP and its allies.

He said he would attend an INDIA bloc meeting in Delhi to be held at the residence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, where the opposition is expected to formulate a joint strategy on the proposed bill.

He said the INDIA bloc will have to decide together what will be the response to this bill and what will be their role in Parliament. “Individual parties acting alone would not be effective. There is a need for collective decision-making within the alliance,” he said.

Referring to the past delimitation exercise, he said the distribution of seats, the way constituencies were made, the way maps were drawn and the way voters were shifted, the purpose was only that somehow the BJP and its allies should benefit.

He further said the proposed changes in parliamentary composition, including an increase in the number of Lok Sabha members and provisions for women’s representation, would be examined collectively by the opposition bloc—(KNO)