SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference on Monday accused BJP of using the reservation bill as a walking stick to reap election dividends in Jammu & Kashmir.
Lamenting the proposal, party’s chief spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq said the proposed bill is blind to the ground realities. “I have no problem with representation to underrepresented communities. That was also the logic behind having an upper house which was scrapped under the J&K Reorganisation Act,” he said.
Tanvir expressed his party’s opposition to the proposal of LG nominating individuals. “This should be the prerogative of the elected government and not an un-elected representative of Delhi.”
Tanvir believes that the authorisation of LG to nominate any person is an admission that the BJP expects to lose the next election in J&K and is using the nomination route to gain a few members in the house. “The fact that the LG is being authorized to nominate any person is another admission that the BJP are convinced they will lose the next election in J&K and are using the nomination route to try to get a handful of members in the house. That said, two or three seats will make no difference to the future of the BJP.”
Tanvir said that the party has already rejected the J&K Reorganisation Act of 2019, and that the entire process is currently under judicial scrutiny in the highest court of the country.
“It raises concerns about how the government can proceed with a decision while its parent Act is still being debated in the Supreme Court. Such decisions go against the constitutional propriety as it preempts the SC decision. Ideally such a decision should have been left to a democratically elected government,” he said.
