Why Nomination Of Five Members To Jammu-Kashmir Assembly By Lieutenant Governor Has Become Bone Of Contention Among Political Parties

In the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act 2019, a provision was made giving powers to the Lieutenant Governor to nominate five members to the assembly, in addition to the five nominated members.

The former state of Jammu and Kashmir had a provision for nominating two women to its assembly. Now, two Kashmiri Pandits, one for refugees from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), and two women are to be nominated.

In 2023, based on the recommendations of the delimitation commission led by retired Justice Ranjana Desai, this provision was integrated into the Reorganisation Act. The changes expanded the assembly and increased the majority requirement to 48 seats.

This nomination system is currently found only in the assemblies of the union territories of Puducherry (with three nominated MLAs) and Jammu and Kashmir (with five nominated MLAs).

Politicians from different political parties are responding to this provision differently. While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is confident that the five nominated members will be chosen from it, other parties are accusing it of being an attack on the democracy.

"All candidates will be from the BJP — Ashok Kaul, Rajni Sethi, Sunil Sethi, Dr Fareeda Khan and our Mahila Morcha leader Sanjita Dogra," vice president of Jammu and Kashmir BJP Sofi Yusuf said.

"It’s our government at the Centre and we will give the names. We are getting these five seats," he asserted while Congress alleged that it is an open misuse of the institution and the Centre's powers to alter the mandate.

"We don’t want people in the Assembly who are not worth it. The Lieutenant Governor has to only approve what the elected government recommends to him," National Conference (NC) president Dr Farooq Abdullah said.

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Iltija Mufti alleged that nominating only BJP members is a 'brazen pre-result rigging and shameful manipulation and recalled the 1987 election rigging.

"Facing imminent defeat, the BJP is playing desperate games to engineer a majority and hoping for a hung Assembly to aid them in their subterfuge," Congress Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh claimed.