Sir,
After remaining asleep at the time of making rules for the nomination of five members to the Legislative Assembly of J&K UT, the opposition has woken up on the eve of the announcement of the results to the Assembly.
We all know that the President of India and Governors are nominal heads and have to follow the advice of the instant governments. They muscle their power at the time of hung legislatures, withdrawal of support etc. as they have to act as per their conscience etc. If I am not mistaken, the powers to nominate members to Lok Sabha and even Rajya Sabha and Assemblies lie with the governments. There should be no such mechanism that subverts the mandate of people. Giving powers to LG for such nomination goes against the spirit of democracy.
But one must not lose the sight of the fact that the parties who are crying hoarse on the issue are being paid in the same coin with interest. It is not out of place to mention that both Leh and Kargil Autonomous Hill Development Councils have 26 elected Councillors and four Nominated . The authority to nominate members lies and lied with the respective DCs, of course with the the directions of elected state governments and now the LG. The Ladakhees had been crying loud for the foul but neither NC, PDP or Congress gave an ear to them. Even BJP was mulling to hoist party flag in Kargil Council with machination of the provision.
To conclude, there must be a debate on the issue of nominations and such provision shall not be allowed to subvert mandates. The Indian Parliamentarians are wise enough to legislate on the issue, provided they rise above narrow party politics. Today it is the turn of party A and tomorrow party B. There must be no loophole and, at least, such members shall have no role in deciding the majority.
S M Pandit
Jammu
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