Srinagar/New Delhi: The lieutenant governor’s (L-G) authority to nominate five additional members to the Jammu and Kashmir assembly, raising its total strength to 95, has stirred major controversy in the union territory. This change increases the effective majority mark to 48.
BJP local unit vice-president Sofi Yousuf indicated that L-G Manoj Sinha would nominate these members in consultation with the home ministry, asserting that “the nominated members will all be from the BJP.”
The National Conference (NC) and Congress alliance has criticized this move, calling it an attempt to undermine democracy. After the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status in 2019 and the region’s division into two union territories, a 2022 delimitation process expanded assembly seats to 90—43 for Jammu and 47 for Kashmir.
The opposition has raised concerns that this reallocation favors the Hindu-majority region of Jammu.
The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act of 2019, along with a 2023 amendment, granted the L-G additional powers, including the ability to nominate five assembly members—two women, two migrants (including one woman), and one member from displaced persons from “Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.”
Yousuf specifically named potential nominees, asserting they would all belong to the BJP, including party general secretary Ashok Koul and other prominent BJP women leaders.
He claimed that since the BJP holds power at the Centre, the nominees would naturally be from the party. While there has been no official announcement regarding the L-G’s nominations, opposition parties argue that the L-G should only act on the advice of an elected government.
However, BJP leaders close to the Raj Bhawan expect the nominees to be appointed shortly, with voting rights similar to those upheld by the Supreme Court in Pondicherry.
Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP K.C. Venugopal expressed concerns about the implications for the people’s mandate in Jammu and Kashmir, stating, “The misuse of institutions and the Centre’s powers to alter the mandate will not be tolerated.”
Local Congress president Tariq Hamid Karra criticized the nominations as “undemocratic,” arguing that the authority granted to the L-G is arbitrary and unconstitutional, stressing that even the President of India must act on the cabinet’s advice.
