New Delhi: Congress in Jammu & Kashmir appears divided on government formation with one section comprising of influential Congress leaders demanding fresh elections in the region while the second one demanding the continuation of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but with ‘engineered defects’.
Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad in a two-day marathon meeting in Srinagar expressed strong opposition to the idea of PDP’s continuation with correcting its party’s defects in the region and insisted that the party should demand fresh elections so that people get a chance to elect a new government, HT reported.
The State Congress also passed a resolution to project Azad as the party’s CM candidate for the next elections along with citing J&K’s stringent anti-defection law.
J&K’s stringent anti-defection law is completely different from the Central law which gives power to the Speaker.
Senior advocate Zafar Shah and also a Constitutional expert says the J&K law gives power to the Speaker to dismiss legislators leaving the party, “however, if there is a split in the party, which is 50% of the legislators leave, the law does not apply,” he said.
“In 1984, when Ghulam Mohammad Shah engineered a split in the National Conference and formed a government with Congress support, the Speaker had moved court challenging it. But the high court recognised the split in the party and refused to take action against Shah and other legislators,” he said.
This law was enacted in 2005-2006 as the 13th amendment to the constitution of J&K when Azad was CM.
But BJP claimed that the saffron party is exploring the possibility of forming a government with ‘like-minded legislators’.
BJP general secretary Ram Madhav during his previous visit in Srinagar had met Peoples Conference chairman Sajjad Ghani Lone and independent legislator Engineer Rashid.
Three PDP legislators – Imran Raza Ansari, Abid Hussain Ansari and Mohammad Abbas rebelled against party president and former CM Mehbooba Mufti, Imran Raza denied rumors of joining the National Conference.
When asked if PDP party plans to take action against the rebels, senior PDP leader Naeem Akhtar said the leadership will soon take a call. “J&K is not about numbers. It is the legitimacy of arrangement and credibility of New Delhi which is important. We see Kashmir beyond party politics. No military might, no muscular power can be the remedy,” he said.