Before the results of the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir tomorrow, the atmosphere has heated up due to the statement of the BJP leader regarding the nomination of MLAs. With the nomination of five MLAs, the majority mark in the 90-member Assembly has increased to 48, which has also increased the concern for the alliance of Congress and NC which is leading in the exit polls. Jammu and Kashmir BJP Vice President Sofi Yusuf on Monday heated up the political atmosphere of the state by saying that all the nominated MLAs will be from BJP only. On his statement, the NC Congressman said that this is a conspiracy to destroy democracy.
Yusuf, BJP candidate from Bijbehara, said that Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha will nominate five BJP members as MLAs in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly. All these nominated members will be from BJP. Sophie also gave the names of five members and said that nominations can be made from among these five. He said that if we have a government at the Centre, then only our people will be nominated. However, BJP’s media in-charge said on this issue that the names of the people who will be nominated will be decided by the sub-states after consultation with the Union Home Ministry.
The Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor’s office is currently maintaining silence on the names of the five MLAs to be nominated, while BJP’s opposition parties in the state say that the Lieutenant Governor should nominate MLAs only on the advice of the elected government. However, BJP leaders close to Raj Bhavan said the five MLAs would be nominated within a few days and would have voting rights on the lines of Pondicherry UT, where the SC had upheld the voting rights of nominated members.
Why are MLAs being nominated?
In 2019, when the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act was passed, accordingly the number of seats in the state was also increased after delimitation. This same Act gave the Lieutenant Governor the power to nominate five members to the Legislative Assembly. These include two women members, two migrant citizens (including women) and one displaced person from PoK can be nominated.
