New J-K UT to have 7 more Assembly seats after delimitation

New Delhi

The Union Territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir will have a Lieutenant-Governor and the maximum strength of its Assembly will be of 107 seats which will be further enhanced to 114 after a delimitation exercise, according to a Bill introduced in Parliament on Monday.

The current effective strength of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly is 87, including four seats falling in Ladakh region, which will now be a separate UT without a legislature. Twenty-four seats of the Assembly continue to remain vacant as they fall under Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

“…the number of seats in the Legislative Assembly of Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir shall be increased from 107 to 114, and delimitation of the constituencies may be determined by the Election Commission in the manner hereinafter provided,” according to the J-K Reorganisation Bill, 2019, introduced by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Rajya Sabha on Monday.

The UT of Ladakh will have Kargil and Leh districts, it said.

There shall be a council of ministers in the successor UT of J-K, the Bill said, consisting of not more than 10 per cent of the total number of members in the Legislative Assembly, with the Chief Minister at the head “to aid and advise” the Lieutenant-Governor in the exercise of his functions in relation to matters with respect to which the Legislative Assembly has power to make laws.

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