Oppn gears up to corner Govt
Srinagar: The nine-day autumn session of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly will begin on Thursday and is likely to witness fireworks from the opposition
The session will start with obituary references on the first day, and business will be conducted on six working days.
The session is expected to be stormy as the opposition BJP, PDP, Awami Ittehad party, together with some allies of the Omar Abdullah-headed government, gear up to seek accountability from the government on electoral promises, statehood restoration, reservation rules, etc.
The centre of discussion in this session will be three bills to be introduced by the government. The cabinet has already given its nod for amendments to the Jammu & Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act, 1989, and the Goods & Services Tax Act, 2017, as well as for the enactment of the Jammu and Kashmir Shops and Business Establishment Bill, 2025.
The autumn session of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly is expected to be stormy, with opposition parties gearing up to corner the ruling NC-led government over a gamut of issues.
Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will demand accountability from the NC-led government for what he described as a “betrayal of electoral promises.”
“The government has failed to deliver on its commitments made during the elections—whether it is the promise of 200 free units of electricity, 12 LPG cylinders per household, or other assurances given to the people,” Sharma said.
He further said that the BJP will question the government on its inability to create employment opportunities for the youth. “In the election, the government promised to create one lakh jobs for the youth, but they have done nothing. We will ask them what they have done for the youth in the past year,” he added.
The session is expected to witness fireworks from the opposition over governance issues, promises made by the National Conference in its election manifesto, statehood, and reservation.
As many as 450 questions, 13 private members’ bills, and 55 private members’ resolutions have been received by the Legislative Assembly Secretariat for the session.
Thirty-three private members’ bills, which were submitted in the last Assembly session, are pending in the House and will be given preference in business on October 28 — the day fixed for private members.
Meanwhile, the Business Advisory Committee of the Assembly is meeting in the Speaker’s office on Wednesday at 3 p.m. to discuss allocation of time for business in the House.
The Committee’s role is to suggest how much time should be given to discuss bills and other matters, as directed by the Speaker in consultation with the Leader of the House.
The Speaker, Abdul Rahim Rather, had disallowed a resolution by the Peoples Conference (PC) president and MLA, Sajad Lone, on restoration of statehood. The Speaker has ruled that the matter is sub judice and cannot be put to a vote in the Assembly. (With inputs from KNO)
