SRINAGAR: National Conference leaders will attend the Delimitation Commission’s associate members meeting in New Delhi next week, party MP Hasnain Masoodi said on Saturday, December 18, 2021.
But he said there was no shift in the party’s stand that the exercise “offends” the spirit of the Constitution. “Seeing the overall scenario, the party has decided that its MPs will attend the meeting,” Masoodi said.
He said since the commission cannot travel to the length and breadth of the union territory, they cannot hear what the people have to say. “So we will take the people’s viewpoint to the commission,” he said.
The NC MP said the party had written to the commission seeking seek its agenda, but there was no response. “We want to know what their agenda is. We had asked them to submit the agenda of the meeting as well as the relevant supporting material. But, they did not. So, we have to go there to see what their agenda is.”
While the NC has decided to participate in the meeting, the People’s Democratic Party said it had no faith in the commission. PDP president Mehbooba Mufti accused the delimitation commission of “working on the BJP’s agenda.”
She also accused the BJP of using the NIA and the ED to demoralise her party because of its moves to expose its “false narratives.” But “the PDP is not going to be cowed down by such steps,” she said.
“As far as the delimitation commission is concerned, it is the BJP’s commission. Their attempt is to pitch the majority against the minority and further disempower the people. They want to increase the (assembly) seats in such a way to benefit the BJP,” she said.