Jammu, May 14: The tussle over the allocation of chairmanships in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly’s House Committees intensified on Thursday, with Leader of Opposition Sunil Kumar Sharma saying that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will soon convene a meeting to decide whether to boycott the panels.
Speaking to reporters, Sharma said the distribution of committee chairmanships was unfair and tilted in favour of the ruling Jammu & Kashmir National Conference and its allies. “We will decide whether to stay away from the proceedings of the committees,” he said.
The LoP alleged that the Assembly was being turned into the headquarters of the National Conference and claimed that the voice of the opposition was being muzzled to prevent it from highlighting the failures and “blunders” of the government.
Sharma accused the Speaker of acting with bias and violating the principle of proportional representation. “The Speaker is undermining democratic norms by openly siding with the ruling alliance,” he said.
He said the negligible representation given to the opposition in the chairmanship of committees was “an insult to the mandate of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.”
Sharma questioned how eight committee chairmanships could be allotted to the ruling alliance, which has 54 MLAs, while the BJP, with 29 legislators, was given only one. “Those justifying this decision should first read the principle of proportionate representation instead of twisting facts to suit their convenience,” he said.
