Bloeria panel recommendations 'discriminatory' : BJP

Jammu, Feb 21 (UNI) Jammu and Kashmir BJP today rejected the Bloeria panel recommendations regarding the delimitation of new administrative units terming them ''discriminatory''.

State BJP chief Ashok Khajuria said the fact that the recommendations of the panel were ''discriminatory against the Jammu province was evident in the case of Shopian district.

''The newly-created Shopian district will be same comprising only one tehsil, 43 panchayats and 231 villages. The Bloeria committee has gone by the dictates of the valley-centric state government and given a preferential treatment to Kashmir,'' Mr Khajuria said.

Mr Khajuria further lambasted the state government saying the recommendations on the creation of new districts, if implemented in letter and spirit, will enable Kashmir to have one district for every 275 sq kms which was 571.35 sq kms and 3.6 lakh voters in the case of Jammu.

He urged the government to withdraw the decision and demanded the creation of more districts in Jammu following the criteria it adopted while recommending the creation of 4 districts in Kashmir, as against one recommended by the Wazir Commission Report (1981-83).

At the same time, he appealed to the people of Jammu to make common cause with the BJP and ''fight unitedly against the state government which is perpetrating on Jammu one injustice after another''.

UNI