J&K Assembly session begins today

Srinagar, Nov 3: The first session of the first Legislative Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory (UT) is beginning here Monday. It will be a five-day long session.

As per the list of the business, a motion will be moved in the house to choose senior National Conference (NC) leader, Abdul Rahim Rather as the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. After the Speaker’s election, Lieutenant Governor  Manoj Sinha will address the assembly.

November 5 is for obituary references while on November 6 and 7, discussions will be held on the LG's address. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah will reply to the discussion on November 8.

On Sunday, a day before the start of the assembly session, the major political parties held meetings to chalk out their strategies for the floor of the house.  A joint meeting of the legislators of coalition partners NC, Congress, CPI (M), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and the five independent MLAs supporting NC was held here Sunday evening. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah presided over the meeting.

Talking to media persons after the meeting, Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) chief Tariq Hamid Karra said that the meeting discussed the business for the short session.

“It is a short session, so the business is not also that long,” he said.

Sources said it was decided in the meeting that Abdul Rahim Rather would be the joint candidate of the coalition partners for the post of Speaker.

It was not shared in the meeting whether or not the post of the Deputy Speaker will be given to the main opposition party, BJP. No decision was taken on the issue.

BJP has announced Narinder Singh as its candidate for the post of Deputy Speaker.

BJP held a meeting and elected Sunil Sharma Leader of its Legislature Party. Talking to media persons, BJP General Secretary Tarun Chugh said that his party has resolved to become the voice of every citizen of Jammu and Kashmir.

There is no mention in the provisional calendar of the assembly session about any resolution against August 5, 2019, decisions under which the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated into two union territories and Article 370 and Article 35-A abrogated.

NC's Chief Spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq and some other leaders had recently stated that such a resolution will be moved and passed in the very first session of the assembly. Even NC in its election manifesto has also promised the resolution. There is also no mention about a resolution on statehood in the calendar.

The J&K cabinet during its first meeting here recently had passed a resolution for the restoration of statehood. The resolution was also approved by the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha.

Later, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah visited New Delhi and, as per the reports, handed over a copy of the resolution to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a meeting there.

Omar also held meetings with some other union ministers including Amit Shah and demanded early restoration of statehood.

The brief assembly session will give indications regarding the government’s agenda for the future. Expectations of the people are high from the elected government. It will have to deliver on the promises, made to the people, for the next five years. The unemployment problem and other emerging problems and challenges in other sectors too have to be tackled. The ruling party leaders say that the things cannot be changed overnight and that their government needs time for solutions to their problems.

The assembly session is expected to generate a lot of interest. The treasury and opposition benches would try to ensure to send a message on the floor of the house and outside that they mean the business.

The ruling NC would make efforts during the session to convince the people that it would make a serious beginning for keeping the promises the party made during the elections and got the votes and political power back.  The address of LG Sinha and the reply to discussion by the CM will be keenly watched.

On the other hand, the powerful opposition party BJP would ensure to create the impression from the very beginning that it will not hesitate to play a dominant role and would take the government head on various issues.

The Kashmir-based opposition political parties People’s Democratic Party (PDP), People's Conference (PC), and Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) too will try to make their presence felt and ensure that they are not taken for granted. Even Congress, CPI (M), and Aam Aadmi Party (AIP), though part of the NC headed coalition, would sometimes like to have their voice on some important issues and also while highlighting the problems of people and demanding their solutions.

At present the scenario of assembly and the elected government is different from what it used to be before the August 5, 2019 changes. They are not as powerful as they used to be in the past. Because of the changes made, their powers have been reduced and the Lieutenant Governor empowered. Because of the changes in the powers some important developments on political and administrative levels were also witnessed after the formation of the elected government. Such developments may continue to occur until the reality of Jammu and Kashmir being a UT continues and statehood is restored.