J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, while commenting over PDP MLA Waheed ur Rehman Parra's resolution opposing abrogation of Article 370, said on Monday that the resolution tabled by a private member has little significance.
Omar Abdullah said here in the Assembly that a single MLA's private resolution during remarks over the Speaker's election carry no meaning.
Though, he himself admitted that in J&K most people have not endorsed the change of 2019 onwards.
The Lt Governor in his address to the Assembly said he fully endorsed Chief Minister's demand for restoring statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.
There was a din in the Assembly when Waheed ur Rehman Parra brought in a resolution against the abrogation of Article 370 as BJP MLAs raised objections and created a racket in the house. When the Speaker, Abdul Rahim Rather, tried to intervene amid the din and asked them to calm down the situation for some time, the house was adjourned by him for 15 minutes.
NC leader and 7-time MLA, Abdul Rahim Rather was elected as the Speaker of J&K Assembly on Monday while Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) MLA Waheed ur Rehman Parra introduced a resolution opposing the abrogation of Article 370.
Pro-tem Speaker Mubarak Gul of the NC declared that Abdul Rahim Rather has been unanimously elected as the Speaker of the Assembly.
As the PDP MLA from the Pulwama constituency of the Valley, Waheed ur Rehman Parra presented a resolution opposing the abrogation of Article 370. NC spokesman and MLA Tanvir Sadiq had already said that the NC will bring in a resolution for restoration of Article 370 in the current session of the J&K Assembly.
Interestingly, though the Congress promises to support statehood for J&K, it would vote against the resolution aimed at restoring Article 370 if NC brings it up in the session.
NC has made the restoration of Article 370 and statehood its core electoral plank. Even if a resolution to that effect passes in the J&K Assembly, which cannot possibly affect the superiority of the Indian Parliament's sovereignty on the subject matter, the NC strategy essentially is a ploy for blackmailing the Centre on one side while reassuring voters on the other that it is true to its poll promises.
The five-day long session of the J&K Assembly began with the Lt Governor Manoj Sinha's address on Monday.
NC has 42 seats, BJP has 28 (one seat has fallen vacant because of BJP MLA Devender Singh Rana's death), Congress 6, PDP 3, CPI-M 1, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) 1, Peoples Conference (PC) 1, and Independents 7.
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