Jammu, May 14: The tussle over the allocation of chairmanships in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly’s House Committees has intensified, with Leader of Opposition Sunil Kumar Sharma Thursday saying that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will soon convene a meeting to decide whether to boycott the panels.
Speaking to news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), Sharma said that the distribution of committee chairmanships was unfair and tilted in favor of the National Conference and its allies. “We will decide whether to stay away from the proceedings of the committees,” he said.
The LoP said the Assembly is being turned into the headquarters of the National Conference, and the voice of the opposition is being muzzled to prevent them from highlighting failures and blunders of the “incompetent” 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 negligible representation to opposition in chairmanship of committees was “an insult to the mandate of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.”
Sharma questioned how eight committee chairmanships could be given to the ruling alliance, which holds 54 MLAs, while the BJP, with 29 seats, was allotted only one. “Those justifying this decision should first read the principle of proportionate representation instead of twisting facts to suit their convenience,” he said—(KNO)
