The delimitation exercise has done what it set out to do: redraw constituency boundaries to reflect population shifts. What it has not done, and was never designed to do, is rebuild trust between Kashmir's electorate and the local bodies meant to represent them.
Turnout in recent local body elections has told its own story, one that new ward maps alone cannot rewrite. Representation is as much about whether people believe their vote changes anything as it is about the arithmetic of seats.
If the phased election rollout now under discussion is to mean anything, it needs to come paired with visible, functioning local governance in the seats already filled — not just a longer runway to fill the rest.
