LG's Power To Nominate 5 Members To J&K Assembly Raises Questions

As the counting of votes for 90 Assembly constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir is underway, the five nominated Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) to be chosen by the Lieutenant Governor has become a bone of contention.

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These elections are the first in the region since 2014 and will lead to the formation of the union territory's first elected government since 2019, when Article 370 was abrogated.

According to the J&K Reorganisation Act of 2019, the Lieutenant-Governor of the "successor Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir may nominate two members to the Legislative Assembly" to provide representation for women "if in his opinion, women are not adequately represented in the Legislative Assembly."

In July 2023, the Act was amended to allow for the nomination of three more members to the Assembly: two members from the Kashmiri migrant community, one of whom is to be a woman, and one member from the "displaced persons from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir"

While the Act states that these nominations are at the discretion of the L-G of J&K, there is no legislative provision about their voting rights or participation in government formation. However, the J&K UT Assembly is modelled on the Puducherry Assembly, which has three nominated members who work on the same level as elected MLAs and have voting rights.

Currently, there is no provision for MLA nomination in any state assembly. These laws only apply to the assembly of the Union Territories of Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir.

With exit polls in Jammu and Kashmir indicating a hung Assembly with the National Conference-Congress coalition leading, the LG's ability to select these five MLAs becomes crucial. 

According to political commentators in the region, these nominations would strengthen the BJP's strength in the House while simultaneously increasing the opposition's majority mark.

In J&K's 90-member assembly, a political party or alliance needs 46 seats to prove its majority. However, the nomination of five MLAs would increase the House's strength to 95, raising the majority requirement to 48 from 46. 

With five nominated MLAs already in its bag, the BJP would only need 43 elected MLAs to achieve a majority of 48.

The Congress, National Conference (NC), and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have all expressed objections to the five members' nominations and threatened to take the matter to the Supreme Court.

“The right to form a new government lies with the elected MLAs of whichever party or coalition gains a majority in the elections. Any nominations contemplated before the government formation in J&K UT would be an assault on democracy and the people’s mandate,” Ravinder Sharma, spokesperson of J&K unit of Congress told media on Friday.

National Conference president Farooq Abdullah said his party would challenge the nominations in court if the BJP-led Centre empowered the Lieutenant Governor to make appointments.

“The LG should first of all stay away from this process as a government is being formed. It is for the government to nominate people and send it (nominations) to the LG. That is the normal procedure. What they want to do, I do not know. However, if they do it (give powers to LG), we will go to the Supreme Court. What is the point in making the government, if the Lord Sahib remains here? We have to fight against all this,” Abdullah said, speaking to reporters in Srinagar on Monday.

Meanwhile, PDP leader Iltija Mufti described the nominations as "brazen pre-result rigging" of the polls. 

“All of the five MLAs nominated by LG are BJP members or associated with the party. Brazen pre result rigging & shameful manipulation,” Iltija Mufti posted on X.