JAMMU: There was utter chaos in the J&K Legislative Assembly on Monday, November 4 as Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) MLA Waheed ur Rehman Para submitted a resolution seeking the restoration of Article 370 for Jammu and Kashmir. “Sir, I congratulate you on being elected as the Speaker of the House. We will learn much from your experience. Today, I have a resolution on behalf of my party that I wish to submit before you. The resolution calls for the restoration of Article 370,” Para said addressing veteran National Conference (NC) leader Abdul Rahim Rather, who had been elected the Speaker sometime before that.
His proposal sparked a massive uproar, with all 28 BJP MLAs present in the House urging the Speaker to dismiss the resolution immediately. Speaker Rather, who had just taken charge before that, attempted to calm down members and responded, “This is my domain; let me examine this (the resolution) and decide accordingly,” he said while trying to pacify the opposition.
The BJP legislators, however, refused to settle down in their seats and continued to oppose the PDP MLA’s move. BJP Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma remarked, “This is unacceptable on the first day; such matters should not be introduced in this House.”
Speaker Rather than reiterated that he had not yet seen this copy. “Let me review it and examine it. If you (BJP) have decided not to let this House function, then I have nothing more to add,” he said.
The House continued to witness commotion as BJP MLAs refused to let the business be resumed, insisting that the resolution brought by PDP MLA Para be discarded by the Speaker.
Reacting to the moving of resolution on Article 370, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said: “The people of J&K do not approve of the decision taken on 5th of August 2019. But the resolution brought today by one member has no importance. It is only for the cameras.”
Incidentally, several party leaders of the NC had said, time and again during the last fortnight, that the party will bring a resolution of Article 370 on the first day of the assembly session. With three MLAs in the assembly, PDP of Mehbooba Mufti has tried to score a point before the ordinary Kashmiris regarding its commitment to Article 370. Peoples Conference (PC) MLA Sajjad Gani Lone, CPM legislator Yusuf Tarigami and some other Kashmiri legislators have also reiterated their support for Article 370.
Earlier in the day, veteran NC leader and seven-time MLA from Charar-e-Sharief (Budgam district) Abdul Rahim Rather was the first speaker of the legislative assembly of the Union Territory (UT) of J&K. Rather (80) was elected the Speaker with a voice vote after the opposition parties decided against contesting for the post. Protem Speaker Mubarak Gul conducted the election of the Speaker.
Minister for Agriculture Javed Ahmad Dar moved a motion to name Rather for the post of speaker, while NC’s MLA Ramban Arjun Singh Raju from Ramban assembly segment seconded the motion on the first day of the five-day session. The way the events unfolded on the first day in the House, it seems the proceedings are likely to see repeated disruptions.
After his election, Speaker Rather was escorted to the chair by the Leader of the House Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, and Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma, BJP legislator from Padder Nagseni in Kishtwar district.
Earlier also, Rather had held the post of the Speaker in the assembly when J&K was a state. He was also the leader of the opposition from 2002 to 2008 when the PDP-Congress coalition government ruled the state. At that time, Omar Abdullah had lost the assembly election to Qazi Afzal of the PDP from Ganderbal assembly segment.
In the 90-member House, there are two vacancies at present, one due to resignation of Omar Abdullah from the Budgam assembly segment, and the second due to recent death of BJP legislator Devender Singh Rana. Omar had won from two assembly segments, Budgam and Ganderbal, but preferred to retain the latter seat as it is considered a family heirloom of the Abdullah family.
Presently, the effective strength of the House is 88 due to two vacancies of elected MLAs and five unfilled vacancies meant for nominated MLAs. The right to nominate these MLAs vests with Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and it is likely that he will nominate them after the first session of the assembly is over.
