Two-Thirds Majority Must For Constitutional Amendments, Says Farooq Abdullah

(MENAFN- IANS) Srinagar, April 17 (IANS) Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and president of the ruling National Conference (NC), Farooq Abdullah, said on Friday that constitutional amendment Bills introduced in the Lok Sabha by the BJP-led Central government require a two-thirds majority to be passed.

Speaking to media persons, Farooq Abdullah said a constitutional amendment Bill requires a two-thirds majority, which the ruling party at the Centre does not have.

“A constitutional amendment Bill needs a two-thirds majority, which the ruling party at the Centre does not have. They should understand this and listen to the people,” the elder Abdullah said.

Responding to a question on the delimitation issue, Abdullah questioned the intention of the Central government in seeking another delimitation of seats.

“You know how wrongfully delimitation was carried out in J&K. I don't know how they will go about it,” he said.

It may be recalled that in the 2022 J&K delimitation exercise, led by Justice (Retd.) Ranjana Prakash Desai, electoral boundaries were redrawn based on the 2011 Census. The exercise increased the total number of Assembly seats from 83 to 90 (43 in Jammu and 47 in Kashmir) and added nine seats for Scheduled Tribes and seven for Scheduled Castes.

The process, authorised by the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, also created five parliamentary constituencies.

The J&K Assembly now has 90 elected seats, with 24 additional seats reserved for Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

The Jammu division gained six seats, while the Kashmir division gained one seat. The Anantnag-Rajouri constituency was created by merging parts of the Jammu region with Kashmir.

The exercise was heavily criticised by regional parties such as the PDP, which alleged that the process was used as a political tool. This was the first delimitation exercise in J&K since 1995, as earlier exercises had been frozen to align with the national timeline.

On the West Bengal elections, Abdullah said:“Mamata Banerjee will win these elections; our prayers are with her.”

On the West Asia conflict, he said that better sense appears to have prevailed in the US.

“It seems the US has decided to have peace in the region. Better sense should prevail and peace should return to the region. It is in the interest of everyone,” he added.

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