Over to J&K Assembly Budget Session
After some days the budget session of Jammu and Kashmir assembly will begin. People have expectations from the first budget of the present elected government. The ruling party during assembly elections last year made a number of promises with the masses for the solution of their problems. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah recently said that all the demands of the people cannot be met in the first budget. He added that his government has been given five years' mandate to rule and every possible effort would be made to solve the problems of the people during that tenure.
Political observers believe that like the first session in November last year, the coming budget session can also be stormy. This is evident from the mood of opposition and treasury benches' legislators. Both sides are in the process of chalking out their respective strategies. While the ruling party will highlight the positive points of the budget, the opposition its weak points.
The first assembly session was very brief. The budget session, beginning on March 3, will be of long duration. For last few days some of the legislators had publicised their notices regarding their bills, resolutions and questions. Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather expressed his displeasure over the trend and directed the MLAs to desist from such practice in future. Quoting rules he said that a notice shall not be given publicity by any member or other person until it has been admitted by the speaker and circulated to members. Similarly, a notice of a question shall not be given any publicity until the day on which the question is answered in the house, he added. His directive was criticised by the PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, who said that the speaker rather than intimidating the legislators should safeguard their rights. Responding to her comments , the speaker said that she had not been properly advised and that her statement is against the rules position. The issue may figure again during an all party meeting convened by the speaker on February 27, ahead of the budget session.
During the budget session, the treasury benches will have to face the mighty opposition BJP besides the five opposition members belonging to various parties in Kashmir and an independent MLA. The Kashmir based opposition parties could not perform well in 2024 assembly polls and subsequently their representation in the assembly is low. With a clean sweep in its stronghold in Jammu region, BJP has 29 members. In the November session, the BJP MLAs disrupted the proceedings of the house for few days as a mark of protest against passing of a resolution by treasury benches regarding special status and restoration of statehood. Some of the protesting legislators were marshalled out. Now, there is no political compulsion or necessity for the National Conference (NC) government to move and pass any such resolution. So a direct confrontation between NC and BJP on the issue is unlikely to occur. But on other issues there can be serious differences. As far as the Kashmir based opposition MLAs are concerned they may try to raise issues again which were raised in the first session to corner the ruling party that it is not doing anything regarding the promises it made during the assembly polls. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah recently reiterated that his government has been given five years and not five days, five weeks or five months to perform." We will perform and deliver," he said.
National Conference president Dr Farooq Abdullah too has been stating that his party' s government is committed to keep all the promises made with the people. Interestingly, he keeps on hailing the Omar Abdullah government's initiatives and criticising the central government on some J&K related matters. In a way he is acting both as the leader of a ruling party as well as that of the opposition.
The opposition parties are not getting something concrete to criticise the present government. Because of the dual power system in the union territory, there is a general belief that the powers of the present elected government are limited and that it cannot do much in some sectors presently. But there is pressure on Omar Abdullah to make a beginning from somewhere for the solution of the problems of the people. Some time back the PDP leader Waheed-ur- Rehman Parra had said that the Lieutenant Governor administration has delivered more on the development and governance fronts than the elected governments in past. He stated that the NC government must work on the political promises on which it got the votes, the majority and the power. Opposition parties are trying to get some kind of breakthrough against the ruling party but are unable to do so till now. However, in future if the Omar Abdullah government did not perform as per the expectations of the people, they can get an opening.
While the ruling and opposition parties will move as per their respective strategies on the floor of the house, the budget session will provide an opportunity to first time legislators to prove their mettle. In past, the Jammu and Kashmir assembly has produced some outstanding legislators. Some of them are members of this assembly also. And among them, the seven time MLA and former finance and law and parliamentary affairs minister Abdul Rahim Rather is the speaker of the present assembly.
Author is senior editor, Greater Kashmir
