Chairmanship row sparks fresh BJP-NC faceoff in J&K Assembly

A fresh confrontation appears to be brewing in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly as the BJP on Thursday threatened to boycott House Committees, accusing the ruling alliance of cornering key chairmanships and reducing the legislature into a “National Conference headquarters.”

Escalating the row, Leader of Opposition Sunil Kumar Sharma said the party would soon take a final call on staying away from committee proceedings, alleging that the opposition’s voice was being deliberately stifled to shield the government from scrutiny over its “failures and blunders.”

Sharma alleged that distribution of committee chairmanships was unfair and tilted in favour of the National Conference and its allies. “We will decide whether to stay away from the proceedings of the committees,” he said.

The LoP said the Assembly is being turned into the headquarters of the National Conference, and the voice of the opposition is being muzzled to prevent them from highlighting failures and blunders of the “incompetent” government.

Sharma accused the Speaker of acting with bias and violating the principle of proportional representation.

He said negligible representation to opposition in chairmanship of committees was “an insult to the mandate of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.”

Sharma questioned how eight committee chairmanships could be given to the ruling alliance, which holds 54 MLAs, while the BJP, with 29 seats, was allotted only one. “Those justifying this decision should first read the principle of proportionate representation instead of twisting facts to suit their convenience,” he said.

In a social media post on Wednesday, Sharma alleged that Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather’s decision to hand over the chairmanship of eight out of nine House Committees to MLAs of the ruling National Conference-led alliance smacks of a move to turn the J&K Assembly into the National Conference’s headquarters.

In a statement, Sharma said that the Jammu & Kashmir Assembly belongs to the people of Jammu and Kashmir and that the BJP will resist any move to turn it into the fiefdom of any party.

“The decision to appoint eight MLAs of the ruling party as heads of the committees is totally unjustified and an insult to the mandate of people of J&K ” he said, adding that the universally accepted principle of proportional representation has been trampled by the Speaker.

He said the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Assembly empower the Speaker to nominate chairpersons of House committees, but discretion must be exercised fairly in all decisions.

“The first-time MLAs from the ruling party have been appointed as heads of different committees, while senior legislators from the opposition have been ignored,” he said.