Role of first J&K UT Assembly Speaker equally important

Srinagar, Oct 30: The role of the first speaker of the first assembly of the Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory (UT) will be very important irrespective of the changes made on August 5, 2019.

This is despite the view in political circles that this assembly is not as powerful as it used to be in the erstwhile State.

The election for the speaker is scheduled on the very first day of the first session of the house on November 4. The name of senior National Conference (NC)  leader Abdul Rahim Rather is being mentioned in the media as the possible speaker. However, Rather during a recent interview said that he has not been communicated anything regarding this by his party as yet. But he added that he was ready to play any role which NC assigns to him.  The senior NC leader was the speaker of the assembly in the past.  Rather has vast experience as a finance and law minister as well.

On November 4, it will become clear who is elected as the speaker. The speaker will be having a challenging time ahead so his role will also be important. Technically operating in a union territory assembly can be somewhat different for him from that of a state assembly. But a lot of responsibility will be on his shoulders and the conduct of the proceedings with maturity will be an acid test in new circumstances.

BJP having its 29 elected MLAs and expected to get the support of five to-be-nominated legislators would be always ready to give a tough time as opposition to the treasury benches. From Kashmir, PDP's three MLAs, the People's Conference one, and Awami Ittihad Party (AIP) one,  too would try to make things difficult for the ruling party on important issues. Congress with six MLAs, CPI (M) with one and Aam Admi Party one, though supporting the government would like to take an independent line wherever required particularly on issues about common people.

Irrespective of the relations between the centre and the J&K government from time to time,  the BJP leaders would like to launch a political offensive against the government from word go in the assembly and keep it going to make their strong presence felt. The role of the speaker will be very crucial during such times in the assembly while striking a balance and ensuring that the proceedings are not frequently disrupted during routine heated debates on various issues. Much will also depend upon the ruling party - how much it will like to stick to its political agenda while ensuring that other areas including development and solution of people's problems too get enough focus.

As expected the post of deputy speaker is likely to go to BJP as it being the main opposition party.

If one goes by the time since 2002, leaders from both the regions- Kashmir and Jammu- have been the speakers of the assembly. Since 1996 senior leaders have been the speakers of the house. When NC formed the government in 1996,  Ali Mohammed Naik was elected the speaker. Following his induction into the cabinet in 1998, Abdul Ahad Vakil  replaced him as the speaker.

After the formation of the coalition government of PDP and Congress in 2002,  Tara Chand was elected as the speaker. When after the 2008 assembly polls, the NC-Congress government came into being, Mohammad Akbar Lone became the speaker. His term triggered some controversies also. Lone was replaced by Mubarak Gul in 2013. Gul is presently the pro-tem speaker of the assembly.

During the coalition government of PDP and BJP after the 2014 assembly polls, Kavinder Gupta took over as the speaker and later Nirmal Singh became the speaker. Singh was the last speaker of the assembly of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Now after a few days, it would be known as to who will be the first speaker of the first assembly of the union territory of J&K. NC being the oldest regional party would like an experienced senior leader to hold the important post who can handle his responsibilities well with maturity and who will not create problems for the ruling party at a time when Jammu and Kashmir is a union territory.