Srinagar: Peoples Democratic Party stole the show on Monday as its MLA Waheed Ur Rehman Para moved a resolution against the abrogation of Article 370 in the maiden session of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly.
While Chief Minister Omar Abdullah termed Para's resolution as one having "no importance" and "only for the cameras", he did signal to the house that the treasury benches would table their own resolution on the matter.
In his maiden brief speech on the floor of the House, Abdullah said the house will reflect the 'sentiments' of the people. "First day first show. We knew preparations by the honourable member were underway but we were hopeful they may do it after the election of Speaker and address of Lieutenant Governor and obituary reference especially a sitting member is no more with us. We will resume this issue after that," he said.
"I was not ready for a political speech today. But now the reverse has happened with politics taking centre stage. Some members have nothing to do except for politics. This assembly reflects the sentiments of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. The fact is people have not approved the August 5 decision. If they would have accepted, the results would have been different today."
Abdullah said that the majority of the 90-member House belongs to the parties who opposed the abrogation and demotion of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. "Now the House will reflect the sentiments and how the issue will be taken up and recorded. It won't be decided by a single honourable member," he said.
ETV Bharat had reported the government plans to move the resolution in the first session of the House, a key promise of the ruling National Conference in the election. The NC alongside its alliance partners Congress, Communist Party of India (Marxist) with the support of independents mark a total tally of 55 in the assembly, giving it a comfortable majority to move the resolution.
The tactical move by the Para, who represents the Pulwama constituency, proved a showstopper and triggered a massive backlash from all BJP MLAs in the house.
In the first hour after the session elected seven-time legislator and the senior most member of the 90-member house Abdul Rahim Rather as the Speaker, Para moved the resolution to seek discussion on the August 5, 2019 decision by the Narendra Modi-led government at the centre.
Though the resolution is not legally binding for the centre, it marks the first formal opposition to the downgrading of the erstwhile state and its bifurcation into two union territories.
The Chief Minister suggested Para should have moved the bill during the private members' resolution day.
"What resolution will be brought (in the House) will be decided by the treasury benches in consultation with the permission of the Speaker. The resolution brought today has no significance. It is meant to come into the limelight. There is no other aim in it. If they would have been serious, they would have discussed with us and decided what should be the voice of the House," he said.
This irked the three legislators from the PDP and MLA Langate Sheikh Khurshid, the brother of jailed Member of Parliament Engineer Rashid who stood up from their seats in the House, prompting the Speaker to briefly adjourn the proceedings before resuming for the customary address of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha.
Jammu and Kashmir was downgraded to a union territory with the legislature, but Ladakh was hived off as a separate Union Territory without the house. This is the maiden legislative assembly session since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019 after the previous state legislative assembly was dissolved by then-Governor Satya Pal Malik in November 2018, paving the way for direct central rule since then.
In its first cabinet meeting on October 17, the Omar Abdullah government passed the resolution on statehood to Jammu and Kashmir and presented it to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, pushing for statehood, during their meeting in the national capital last month.
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