Setting Boundaries

For centuries, the mighty Pir Panjal range has stood as a barrier, sometimes isolating the Kashmir valley from Jammu for months together.

- Moazum Mohammad in Srinagar

Though the construction in recent years has reduced the separation, this geography is part of why the region is seen as two distinct areas—Jammu and Kashmir. In that regard, some proposals in the ongoing delimitation process, including one that ties two districts in Jammu—Poonch and Rajouri—to Kashmir’s Anantnag, has many questioning the rationale being applied.

On February 4, the delimitation commission—led by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai— released its second draft delimitation. Among other changes, it proposed six new seats for Jammu (Kathua, Reasi, Doda, Rajouri, Kishtwar and Samba) and one for Kashmir (Kupwara), taking their tallies in the assembly to 43 and 47, respectively. The delimitation also departs from convention by considering geography and topography as well as population in drawing boundaries, rather than just population. In the new map, 28 constituencies have had their borders redrawn and 19 have been renamed.