On Thursday National Conference MLC, Javed Rana was elected deputy speaker legislative council. His name was proposed by leader of the house Ajay Sadhotra and Congress MLC Bashir Ahmad Magray and seconded by NC’s Davender Singh Rana and Congress’s N K Gupta.
Rana’s appointment came after the question hour ended. A candidate of ruling NC party, which has majority of candidates in the council, he was elected unopposed to the post after a voice vote.
Out of the total strength of 34 members in the house, the NC- Congress combine has 29 members. The remaining two seats lying vacant in the 36-member House belong to Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) quota.
The post had fallen vacant after the term of incumbent Mohammad Yousuf Taing as MLC had expired last year.
Finance Minister Abdur Rahim Rather, Law Minister Mir Saifullah and Minister for Planning Ajay Sadhotra accompanied Rana to the deputy chairman’s chair.
“I am thankful to my leadership for entrusting me with this key responsibility,” Rana expressed gratitude to NC leadership especially Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Devinder Singh Rana for reposing faith in him.
“I will try my best to live up to their expectations and discharge the assignment with utmost responsibility.”
Rana, who is a law graduate, was associated with several NGOs and social organizations before commencing his political career. His first stint with politics ended in disappointment when he lost 1996 assembly elections. He became the member of lower house in 2002 from Mendhar Assembly segment of Poonch. But he lost to Rafiq Hussain Khan of PDP from the same constituency during 2008 election. He was nominated to the house of elders in 2009.
Early this year in March, Rana was in news after the illegal appointment of his son surfaced. Tahir Rana, his son, was appointed as peon in JCCB. Within days, it was reported that his son allegedly used the influence and high profile to catapult the chair of supervisor.
On Wednesday, when JK Legislative Council unanimously passed a resolution against the former Army Chief V K Singh’s allegations about payoffs to mainstream politicians of the state, Rana remarked V K Singh had done what “hardline Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani and other separatist leaders could not do.”
-Bilal Handoo
