SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly is headed for a stormy nine-day autumn session beginning Thursday, with issues like statehood restoration, reservation policy, regularisation of daily wagers and unfulfilled poll promises by the Omar government set to dominate the proceedings.
The session in Srinagar will begin with an obituary reference, which will see the legislators pay homage to former members of the House who passed away in the last one year. Then, on Friday, the legislators would vote to elect four Rajya Sabha members to fill up the four seats in J&K that have been lying vacant since 2021.
The NC is poised to secure three of the four seats. On the fourth seat, BJP’s J&K’s president Satpal Sharma is enjoying a numerical edge over NC’s Imran Nabi Dar. Meanwhile, the Congress, hurt by its ally NC’s failure to leave for it a safe seat, skipped its joint legislature party meeting with the NC in Srinagar on Wednesday. Instead, the two parties held separate meetings. Further, the BJP will hold its meet on Thursday.
After the snub, the Congress decided against contesting the Rajya Sabha polls and opted out of the bypoll in Nagrota—the lone seat despite NC offering the seat to the grand old party. This assumes significance as the Congress is yet to decide if it would back the NC candidates in the polls or abstain from voting, which will benefit the BJP.
After the holidays on Saturday and Sunday, the House will again meet Monday, when the Opposition is expected to corner the Omar government on his unfulfilled poll promises.
While the BJP is set to take the government to task over its failure to provide 200 units of free electricity per month, 12 free gas cylinders a year and one lakh jobs, the PDP and other Kashmir-based legislators are likely to press the ruling dispensation for apparently “giving up” the demand for restoration of Article 370. They will lock horns with the government over job reservation.
House members have submitted 450 questions, 13 private member’s Bills and 55 private member’s resolutions for discussion during the session. The private member’s resolutions will be taken up for a discussion on October 29. Meanwhile, the Assembly secretariat is said to have disallowed the Peoples Conference’s MLA Sajjad Lone’s resolution on statehood.
Congress skips its joint legislature meet with NC
The Congress, hurt by its ally NC’s failure to leave for it a safe seat for the Rajya Sabha polls, skipped its joint legislature party meeting with the NC in Srinagar on Wednesday. Instead, the two parties held separate meetings. After the snub, the Congress had decided not to contest the polls.
