SRINAGAR: The nomination of five members to the Assembly with voting rights by Lt Governor Manoj Sinha would hold the key to government information in Jammu and Kashmir in case of a hung Assembly.
As per the J&K Reorganisation Act 2019, the Lieutenant Governor may nominate two members to the Assembly to give representation to women if they are not adequately represented in the Assembly.
As per the July 2013 amendment to the Act, Lt Governor was empowered to nominate three more members to the Assembly, including two migrant Kashmiri Pandits, one of them has to be a woman, and another from displaced persons from PoK.
According to legal experts, all five members nominated by Lt Governor, as is the case with the Puducherry Assembly, can have voting rights and participate in a vote of confidence.
After the nomination of five members by the Lt Governor, the J&K Assembly strength will rise to 95 members. The majority figure will be 48. Any party or alliance will have to secure 48 votes to form the first government in J&K UT post Article 370 abrogation. The Lt Governor can nominate members to the Assembly after conclusion of the vote count on October 8. It is his discretion whom he nominates as member of the Assembly.
Political parties are apprehensive that the situation can give an edge to the BJP as the party is set to get support of the five members nominated by Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, who himself is a BJP leader.
Congress spokesman Ravindra Sharma said although the Congress-NC alliance would get a complete majority, the move to nominate five MLAs before government formation by Lt Governor is anti-democratic and a betrayal with public mandate.
NC provincial chief, Jammu, Rattan Lal Gupta voiced strong objections against the provision to nominate five MLAs. “In a democratic setup, the elected government must have the authority to make these nominations. The LG does not have the constitutional right to take such decisions,” he said.