Soon after the BJP was voted to power again at the Centre, the talk of imminent delimitation exercise in Jammu and Kashmir has grabbed the airwaves. Television anchors have organised raging debates on the issue while newspapers columns and social media spaces are occupied by arguments and counter arguments on whether the BJP can make such a move, especially at a time when J&K is under the President’s rule and the Governor, New Delhi’s handpicked man, hasn’t got the mandate to wade into a constitutional matter that has already been settled by the supreme court. The delimitation card is not new. Former chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad also mooted the idea of setting up delimitation commission but it could not become a reality after opposition of his ally, the PDP. The two parties ruled the state in a coalition government between 2002-2008. The plan is reported to have been brought down from the shelves by the new home minister Amit Shah who called a meeting on Jammu and Kashmir on his first day as the country’s new home minister. Certain reports indicate that the question of delimitation in Jammu and Kashmir did come up for discussion during the closed-door meeting with Governor Malik. The vigor shown by the BJP to push a major policy move has once again ignited the debate on disempowerment of Kashmir by successive regimes in New Delhi. The law is pretty clear on this matter: Governor is empowered to amend Section 47 of the J&K Constitution or scrap the objectionable provision that bars setting up of a delimitation commission. Section 3 of the Representation of the People Act also empowers the governor to constitute a delimitation commission. Governor Satya Pal Malik has to just pass an ordinance to end the freeze on delimitation and it will be done. Such an ordinance would need concurrence of the parliament within six months to become into law, but the Hindu rightwing party presently hasn’t got majority in Rajya Sabha. However, there is no proof that the party will remain in that state of deprivation forever. The result of 2019 Lok Sabha polls have put the party on upward trajectory. The iron-handed policy in Kashmir has worked well with the electorate and delimitation is one such issue which will be sold by the spin doctors of the BJP as proof of the party’s commitment towards the voters. If the BJP succeeds and there is no reason why it should not, 30 percent minority (non-Muslims mostly Hindus) of the state will rule over 70 percent majority Muslims. Such a move is bound to perpetuate a sense of separatism and alienation among the majority in the state.