Kashmir Impulse Desk

Jammu, May 13 

Leader of Opposition Sunil Kumar Sharma on Wednesday accused Assembly Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather of favouring the ruling alliance by assigning chairmanships of most House committees to its lawmakers.

Sharma said the Speaker’s decision to appoint legislators from the ruling Jammu and Kashmir National Conference-led alliance as heads of eight out of nine Assembly committees undermined principles of proportional representation.

“The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly belongs to the people of Jammu and Kashmir and not to any political party,” Sharma said in a statement.

He alleged that the allocation of committee chairmanships reflected an attempt to turn the Assembly into “Nawa-e-Subah”, the historic headquarters of the National Conference in Srinagar.

According to Sharma, the ruling alliance, which holds 54 seats in the Assembly, was given control of eight committees, while the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with 29 legislators, was allotted only one committee chairmanship.

He said five of the eight committees assigned to the ruling alliance would be headed by National Conference legislators.

Sharma also criticised the appointment of first-time legislators from the ruling alliance as committee heads while senior opposition lawmakers were overlooked.

“The universally accepted principle of proportional representation has been ignored,” he said.

Under the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, the Speaker has the authority to nominate chairpersons of House committees. Sharma, however, said such powers should be exercised in a fair and balanced manner.