Jammu, Sep 15: Leader of the Opposition (LOP) in J&K Legislative Assembly Sunil Sharma on Tuesday accused the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah-led J&K government of “having almost lost legislative accountability by curtailing the ensuing autumn session of UT Legislative Assembly to just seven sittings and actually mere five effective sittings for meaningful debates and raising people’s concerns.”
Alleging that the National Conference government had made a mockery of J&K Legislative Assembly – only effective forum to raise plethora of public issues, LOP, in particular, questioned the “sagacity and neutrality” of the Speaker of J&K Legislative Assembly, who, he said, was the “senior-most, most experienced member vis-a-vis legislative affairs.”
“The short session has been devised to give an escape route to the government to duck its legislative accountability and run away from prickly issues of public vis-à-vis its (government’s) non-performance. This is a brazen demonstration of inflated ego by the government,” Sharma maintained.
He was addressing a press conference after a marathon meeting of BJP MLAs at BJP headquarter at Trikuta Nagar, Jammu, to chalk out a strategy for the upcoming assembly session from September 21 in Srinagar.
“We had anticipated at-least a 30-day-long autumn session. However, what we have come across – is the session with only seven sittings (working days). Of them, one sitting (opening day) has been kept for the obituary references while the last has been specified for ‘Business, if any’, effectively leaving only five meaningful sittings for discussion on the issues of the people,” he rued. Asserting that the Speaker was expected to function impartially and protect the dignity of the House and democratic traditions.
Responding to a question about the Business Advisory Committee (BAC), he maintained that its meeting was reduced to a mere formality, with the dates and business already decided and opposition members given no meaningful opportunity to deliberate.
“As an eye-wash exercise, the Speaker has called for an all-party meeting on September 17. If everything is already fixed and there is no time for discussion, then inviting members merely to complete a formality is nothing but an eyewash,” LOP said.
“The Speaker should rise above party considerations and take a decision in the interest of the people. He should revise his decision and convene at least a month-long session. The Assembly belongs to the people of J&K, not to the NC,” Sharma said.
He maintained that it (provisional calendar for session) came as an “ugly prank played by the government and the Chair against the people of J&K.”
“There is nothing called “routine governance” visible on the ground. One cannot find any public outreach efforts by any of the ministers. There is a wide chasm between the government and the public. The public functionaries as well as ministers are neck-deep in corruption,” Sharma alleged.
“How can the concerns of an entire Union Territory be discussed, debated and answered in merely five effective sittings? This is not serious governance, this is an attempt to avoid questions, escape meaningful discussion, public accountability and scrutiny of the government’s performance,” he said.
LOP, however, reiterated that the party would use every available democratic and constitutional forum to raise the people’s concerns and would not allow the NC government to escape accountability by simply shutting down meaningful debate in the Assembly.
BJP MLAs Narinder Singh, Vikram Randhawa, Yudhvir Sethi, R S Pathania and Surinder Kumar Bhagat, and J&K BJP media incharge Pardeep Mahotra joined LoP in the presser.
Sharma said that the elected government had been in office for nearly two years and the people of Jammu and Kashmir had legitimate and very high expectations from their elected representatives. “The Assembly is the constitutional platform where the voice, grievances and aspirations of the people are brought before the government. But the NC government is making a mockery of this democratic institution,” he said.
Sharma said BJP MLAs recently undertook extensive public outreach across Jammu and Kashmir and met people at district headquarters and different locations. “People are frustrated. They are asking us to take their issues to the Assembly because they still believe that their elected representatives can question the government and seek answers. We have compiled a comprehensive list of public issues through marathon meetings of BJP legislators and are fully prepared to raise them forcefully,” he said.
He refused to answer queries about UGC stating that the matter was sub-judice.
