SRINAGAR: The usually placid Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly turned into a theatre of political jousting on Tuesday as Chief Minister Omar Abdullah dramatically withdrew two Bills seeking to enhance the salaries and allowances of legislators and ministers — a move he said was aimed at denying the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) “an opportunity to play politics outside the House.”
The day opened with tense moments — slogan‑shouting, verbal duels, and a protest walkout by BJP members — but the mood shifted quickly when they rose to oppose the Bills, despite having raised no objections earlier in the House subcommittee incidentally headed by a senior BJP leader Surjit Singh Salathia that had vetted them. Omar Abdullah, amused yet firm, reminded them of the contradiction.
“In committee, you didn’t raise a finger. But now, with the Bill in the House, you want to oppose it so you can go out and announce that the government doesn’t care about daily wagers, blah, blah, blah.” He pointed toward the opposition. “That little performance won’t happen on my watch.” He added, “If even one member opposes, I withdraw.”
The Chief Minister said he had anticipated political grandstanding over the issue and had already decided that he would withdraw the Bills if even a single member opposed them. “I’ve never backed this. One objection is enough to sink it. I’m withdrawing the Bills,” he declared, prompting chuckles from the treasury benches and clear discomfort among the BJP members. The House then adopted the withdrawal motion by a majority vote.
The BJP members had repeatedly invoked the plight of daily‑wage workers in the House, accusing the government of ignoring their long‑pending demand for regularisation. Abdullah countered sharply, asking why the BJP had not resolved the issue when the administration before 2024 — backed by the party — was in power. “You talk of daily wagers now. What stopped you from regularising them when you were running the show?” he asked, triggering a round of desk‑thumping from ruling National Conference (NC) members.
Although the Chief Minister had already announced to withdraw “three Bills”, members across party lines urged him not to retract the third one — the Bill concerning pensions for former legislators — citing the financial hardship faced by many ex‑MLAs. Yielding to their appeal, he agreed to seek its passage as well. The House subsequently approved the amendment to the J&K State Legislature Members’ Pension Act, 1984.
The Chief Minister quipped that he could now go home with some peace of mind. His father, former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, seated in the Speaker’s Gallery, smiled and tapped his chest, signaling that the remark was directed at him.
The House had erupted in laughter earlier as well when, during a vote on another Bill he had introduced, the Chief Minister borrowed the BJP’s own catchphrase — “statehood will be restored at an appropriate time” — to deflect questions about the delay in Panchayat elections. “If you say ‘appropriate time’ for statehood, we’ll say the same for Panchayat polls,” he quipped, before pointedly asking who exactly decides what qualifies as an “appropriate time.”
The remark drew chuckles across the treasury benches, and while several BJP members responded with polite smiles, a few others appeared visibly uneasy.
Earlier in the day, tensions had flared in the House when the BJP alleged that the resolution urging the Government of India to restore full statehood to the Union Territory without further delay — moved by the Chief Minister and passed on Monday after nearly four hours of heated exchanges, repeated disruptions, sloganeering, and the marshaling out of protesting legislators — was “unconstitutional.”
The party accused Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather of acting in a partisan manner. BJP MLA and Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma and some other party members revived their demand for the Speaker’s removal, prompting a sharp retort from Rather. “I know my powers. Don’t teach me,” he said. “Hooliganism will not work here.”
The BJP cited the Chief Minister’s disclosure from Monday — that both the Chief Secretary and the Law Secretary had written to the Speaker claiming the matter of statehood was sub judice. Abdullah had questioned why he, also being the law minister, was not consulted or even informed. “On whose behest were these letters sent?” he had asked, calling the episode a reminder of the limitations faced by an elected government functioning under a Union Territory framework.
After witnessing noisy scenes for a while, the BJP legislators staged a walkout from the House in protest. Shouting slogans against the government and the Chair, BJP MLAs led by LoP Sharma exited the House soon after the Speaker firmly asserted his authority. “I know my powers. I explained the procedure to you yesterday — don’t teach me,” he told them.
BJP MLA R.S. Pathania on Tuesday moved a no‑confidence motion against the Speaker, following his admitting the resolution seeking the restoration of statehood to J&K — the second such resolution this session, this time referencing the 2000 autonomy resolution.
The moment Pathania introduced the motion, BJP legislators erupted in protest, chanting “Kursi chhodo, kursi chhodo, Speaker Sahib kursi chhodo,” creating noisy and tense scenes in the House.
Pathania said that 23 BJP members had formally submitted a motion for the Speaker’s removal and argued that, in view of this, the Speaker should refrain from conducting further proceedings. He cited three Parliamentary and one Uttar Pradesh Assembly precedent to insist that the Speaker must step aside until the motion is taken up.
The Speaker, maintaining procedural calm, replied that the motion would be listed and processed strictly under Assembly rules. He noted that he had already forwarded the matter in writing to the Secretariat and clarified that the rules require the motion to be taken up “any day 14 days after receiving the notice.” He added that he could not leave the chair vacant while the House was in session and legislative business was underway.
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