Pahari people to contest on ST-reserved Assembly seats of J&K

JAMMU — With changing dynamics of politics in Jammu and Kashmir after delimitation of Assembly constituencies, which gave the Scheduled Tribe (ST) population nine reserved seats to contest, the major boost will be for the Pahari population who, after getting ST status, can contest on these seats.

Their entry into the reserved seats has been confirmed, and now Pahari people can field their candidates on the ST seats and will have a direct contest with the Gujjar and Bakarwal population.

As per the news agency KNO, the Union government has reserved nine out of 90 Assembly constituencies for the ST population which include Gurez (16 on the list) of Bandipora district, Kangan (17) of Ganderbal district, Kokerrnag (42) of Anantnag district Gulabgarh (56) of Reasi district, Rajouri (85), Budhal (86) and Thannamandi (87) of Rajouri district and Surankote (88) and Mendhar (89) of Poonch district.

The majority of ST seats are from the Pir Panjal region, where the Gujjar, Bakarwal and Pahari populations are more and have been reserved according to established guidelines. From the Kashmir Valley, only three seats have been reserved for the ST population, which include one from north Kashmir’s Bandipora district, one from central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district and one from south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.

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Sources told KNO that it has been finalised that the Pahari population, which has been included in the ST reserved category, will be allowed to field their candidates on ST reserved seats. “Once the final publication of electoral rolls is done and the schedule for the Assembly elections is announced, it will be made clear that the Pahari population can also field their candidates on ST reserved seats,” said a source.

There may not be any big change on three ST reserved seats in Kashmir Valley in terms of Gujjars versus Paharis, but on five out of six seats of Jammu region, it will make the contest interesting as it will lead to division of votes on a linguistic basis. Already, things are being rolled out by the political parties by keeping in mind the percentage of Gujjar and Pahari population on ST reserved seats of Rajouri and Poonch districts, and candidates will be finalised by keeping in mind the number of voters from both the communities.

“If Pahari people are given the chance to contest on ST reserved seats, it will surely change the dynamics, and we will have to work accordingly. There may be more Pahari candidates on ST reserved seats of Rajouri and Poonch districts as compared to Gujjars,” said a leader of the national party, wishing not to be named.

With Paharis’ inclusion, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which gave ST status to the community, will have a major stake in these seats where Pahari population is more, but on the other hand, their bonding with the Gujjar population may get hurt, as so far ST status was the sole prerogative of Gujjar and Bakarwals.