Srinagar: The Opposition Congress on Monday said that even if the people of Jammu and Kashmir elect their government in the upcoming Assembly elections, the government here would be weaker than the Union Territory of Puducherry due to the recent amendment in the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act 2020.
"The governments in Union Territories of Delhi and Puducherry are weaker and subservient to the Central government, similarly, the government in Jammu and Kashmir, too, will be weaker than the government of Puducherry UT," All India Congress Committee in-charge for Jammu and Kashmir Bharatsinh Solanki said at a press conference.
He said that the BJP wants to have a proxy government in Jammu and Kashmir through the Lieutenant Governor by having vested in him all the executive powers, which were with the elected Chief Minister.
He said the aim of the recent amendment to the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act by the BJP government is to exploit the resources of Jammu and Kashmir like the British exploited resources in India before independence.
"If elections are held in Jammu and Kashmir and a government is formed, the government will be like a municipality. The legislators who will be elected by the people and the assembly they form will be weaker as they will have no powers to govern," he pointed out.
Solanki was talking in the context of the recent amendment under Section 55 to the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2020 by President Droupadi Murmu.
Under the amendment executive powers have been vested to the LG to make decisions on police, all-India services officers, appointment of law officers to sanction prosecution in certain cases and make decisions on anti-corruption bureau-related matters. These powers were vested with the Chief Minister in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
The amendments, called the Transaction of Business of the Government of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir (Second Amendment) Rules, 2024, came into force on July 12, when the notification was published in the Official Gazette. The amendment created an uproar from the opposition parties, which issued statements and their top leaders tweeted on their handles.
