The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly will convene its first session on Monday after a six-year gap. The election of the Assembly Speaker will be the main topic of the agenda during this session. Following the Speaker’s election, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha is scheduled to address the Assembly.
Legislative Party Meeting Prior to Session
On Sunday evening, the National Conference (NC) conducted a meeting of its legislature party alongside alliance partners, including Congress MLAs, in Srinagar. Jammu and Kashmir Congress President Tariq Hamid Karra spoke to reporters after the meeting, stating, “This was an introductory meeting. We had a little discussion. In the Assembly session tomorrow, the Speaker will be elected. There is the LG’s address. We will see what happens tomorrow.”
Candidates for Speaker and Deputy Speaker Positions
The NC has nominated senior leader and MLA Abdul Rahim Rather for the Speaker’s position. In contrast, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which holds 28 MLAs, has proposed MLA Narender Singh for the role of Deputy Speaker.
Session Schedule and Key Discussions
The first session is set to conclude on November 8. In addition to the LG’s address, the Assembly will pay tribute to former legislators who passed away since the last session of the previous Jammu and Kashmir Assembly on November 5. A discussion on the Motion of Thanks regarding the LG’s address is planned for November 6 and 7.
Recent Election Results
In the last Jammu and Kashmir Assembly election, the Congress-National Conference alliance secured 49 seats out of 90, while the BJP won 29 seats. This election followed a decade-long gap and came after the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019. NC leader Omar Abdullah was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir on September 16.