Stormy J&K Assembly as BJP Vows to Block Article 370 Restoration Move

The near month long budget session which is scheduled to begin in Jammu on March 3 is likely to witness acrimonious exchanges between the Treasury and Opposition benches also on a range of other issues like the private members’ bills proposing prohibition on the advertisement, sale, purchase, consumption, and manufacture of alcoholic beverages across the Union Territory.

J&K People’s Conference (JKPC) chairman and legislator Sajad Gani Lone has submitted a resolution to be taken up for the restoration of Article 370 and Article 35A during the budget session. He has hoped that the resolution will be tabled in the house and the crucial issue is debated upon peacefully by the members.

In the maiden session of the 90-member House held in Srinagar in November last year, several members had become embroiled in brawls as they argued over a resolution passed by an overwhelming vote, and which sought the restoration of the erstwhile state’s constitutional special status revoked by the Centre in August 2019. The resolution moved by Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary had called upon the Government of India to work out a constitutional mechanism for restoring special status of the erstwhile state and hold dialogue with the elected representatives over the issue.

Amid uproars and scuffles, Speaker Abdur Raim Rather had ordered for forcible eviction of some of the BJP legislators by the marshals. Eventually, BJP, the main opposition party with 29 members, had boycotted the rest of the session and held a mock session of the Assembly on its lawns with senior party leader and MLA Sham Lal Sharma acting as the speaker.

Subsequently, People’s Democratic Party (PDP), People’s Conference (PC) and some independent members had while terming it “weak and vague” submitted a fresh resolution, demanding immediate restoration of Articles 370 and 35A in their original form But it was not taken up in the House during the brief session.

Leader of the Opposition (LoP), Sunil Kumar Sharma on Thursday said that the BJP will not allow any “anti-national or unconstitutional” bill to be tabled in the House during the upcoming budget session. “Our stand is clear. We will not allow any unconstitutional and anti-national bill to be introduced in the budget session,” he told reporters before attending the All-Party Meeting called by the Speaker at Jammu’s Civil Secretariat.

After the meeting, Mr. Sharma said that the BJP urged the Speaker not to permit any unconstitutional or anti- national activity during the budget session. “We told him that the BJP will allow any unconstitutional, undemocratic or anti-national resolution, question or any bill in the House. I urged him that he should not allow any such activity and ensure the House is run by him impartially,” he said.

The Speaker did not commit himself to some of the issues raised by the BJP and other opposition members but sought cooperation from all political parties for the smooth functioning of the house during the budget session. In particular, he urged the members not to disrupt the Question Hour as it was important for them to raise questions and hold the government accountable, the sources said. All the participants promised to maintain discipline and decorum in the house but urged the Speaker to give them sufficient time to raise the issues of public importance, the sources added.