Centre nominating 5 members to J-K Assembly after polls 'blatant subversion of democratic principles': Mehbooba Mufti

Srinagar, Aug 11: Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) president and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Monday said the Centre nominating five members to the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly after holding elections is a "blatant subversion of democratic principles".

She was responding to media reports which said that the Ministry of Home Affairs has informed the Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court that the Lieutenant Governor can nominate five MLAs to the Legislative Assembly without the aid and advice of the elected government.

"GOI's decision to nominate 5 MLAs in J&K after holding elections is a blatant subversion of democratic principles. Nowhere else in the country does the Centre handpick legislators to override the public mandate. In India's only Muslim-majority region, long marred by conflict, this move feels less like governance and more like control," Mufti said in a post on X.

"Following the illegal bifurcation of the state, skewed delimitation and discriminatory seat reservations, this nomination is yet another body blow to the idea of democracy in J&K. Representation must be earned through the people's vote not granted by central decree," the former chief minister said.

"This cannot be allowed to become the norm. Hope @OmarAbdullah government rises to the occasion by challenging this undemocratic precedent because silence now would be complicity later," she added.