The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly on Monday witnessed ruckus after People’s Democratic Party (PDP) MLA Waheed Parra moved a resolution opposing the abrogation of Article 370 by the Centre.
In August 2019, the Narendra Modi-led central government abrogated Article 370, stripping Jammu and Kashmir of its special status and splitting the erstwhile state into two Union Territories.
On the first day of the first session of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, which began today, the seven- time legislator and National Conference leader Abdul Rahim Rather was unanimously elected as the Speaker.
While Waheed Parra was speaking on Rather’s election as Speaker, he moved a resolution against revocation of Special Status and Article 370 by the Parliament in 2019. He also read out a resolution.
The PDP MLa move triggered a backlash from all BJP MLAs in the house. The BJP legislators strongly objected saying it was a violation of the rules.
The Speaker asked the BJP leaders to leave it to him as he was yet to see the document forwarded by the legislator.
The members, however, exchanged words and created ruckus in the house despite the the Speaker tried to bring normalcy in the house.
As the ruckus was going on, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah intervened as said the resolution was aimed at only to get into limelight.
“I knew that some members would move a resolution. We were not expecting it to happen on the day one of the session. A single honourable member can’t decide and has no significance. What happens in this session would be decided by the treasury benches, ” Omar said, suggesting the member only wanted to create news before the cameras.
“If they would have been serious, they would have discussed with us and decided what should be the voice of the house,” he said.
The Chief Minister’s response sparked discontent among three legislators from the PDP and MLA Langate, Sheikh Khurshid, brother of the jailed Member of Parliament Abdul Rashid Sheikh. In protest, they rose from their seats, and the Speaker briefly adjourned the house before it resumed for Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha’s formal address.
The National Conference later signaled that a resolution against abrogation of Article 370 is in the offing.
“It was too clever by half attempt by a PDP MLA (Parra), clearly aimed at circumventing government move to introduce resolution? We expect everyone to support the resolution rather than playing to the gallery and weakening the collective resolve of those who sincerely want reclaiming of our constitutional rights, protection of dignity and identity,” NC said in a post on X.
