J&K’s first Assembly session on Nov. 4: All eyes on NC’s likely resolution on Article 370, L-G’s address

J&K Assembly session to address Article 370 resolution, L-G address, Speaker election, and BJP leadership changes.

All eyes are on Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha’s address and the ruling National Conference (NC) resolution on Article 370, as Jammu and Kashmir is all set to witness its first Assembly session on November 4 after a gap of six years, which also saw the downgrading of the erstwhile State of J&K into a Union Territory (UT).

The NC held a meeting of its legislature party and alliance partners, including MLAs of the Congress, in Srinagar on Sunday evening. It was chaired by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. “Led a meeting with alliance legislators at the banquet hall in Srinagar to develop a cohesive strategy to collectively address public aspirations,” Mr. Abdullah said.

At the centre of attention is the resolution proposed to be brought by the NC on Article 370 to “register a protest against the Centre’s measures taken on August 5, 2019”. The Centre’s measures of 2019 resulted in the split of J&K into two Union Territories and abrogation of provisions of Article 370 that had granted special constitutional status to J&K. In case the NC fails to bring a resolution on Article 370, the regional Opposition parties, mainly Peoples Democratic Party and J&K Peoples Conference, are likely to corner it over the issue.

Mr. Abdullah had pledged to bring a resolution on Article 370 in the Assembly in its first session. The NC has the support of 55 MLAs in the 90-member Assembly, which was elected in September-October after a gap of 10 years.

The customary address of L-G Manoj Sinha is also very significant. According to the past practice, the L-G address would be drafted by the General Administration Department (GAD) based on the inputs of multiple departments and placed before the Cabinet to pass on to the L-G for a final nod.

A senior bureaucrat said the L-G address would always “reflect the policy and approach of the government”. However, if the L-G writes his own speech and is in contravention to the elected local government’s policy, then the two power centres, the L-G and the CM, are again set for a collision course.

The J&K Assembly is also likely to elect its Speaker. Senior NC leader and MLA Abdul Rahim Rather’s name has been proposed for the post. The BJP, which has 28 MLAs, has proposed the name of MLA Dr. Narender Singh for the post of Deputy Speaker.