Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Oct 7: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Arun Gupta has criticized the Congress for raising concerns about the powers of LG Manoj Sinha to nominate five MLAs to the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, stating that these powers are rooted in laws enacted during the Congress era.
Gupta explained that the provision for the Central Government or LG to nominate MLAs to a Union Territory (UT) legislature has been part of the Constitution since 1963.
He pointed to the Government of Union Territories Act, 1963, which introduced the concept of nominated MLAs in the Puducherry legislature.
Under this Act, Puducherry was to have 30 elected MLAs and three nominated ones, he said.
He said originally, the Congress Government had proposed a fully nominated legislature for Puducherry.
However, facing opposition, the Government settled on 30 elected and three nominated MLAs. This decision set the precedent for having a percentage of nominated legislators in UT Assemblies, Gupta said.
He further noted that if the current Government had followed the Congress model, it could have allowed Manoj Sinha to nominate nine MLAs, as elections were held for 90 Assembly seats in Jammu and Kashmir.
However, the present Government has limited the number to five nominated MLAs, he said.
Gupta emphasized that the Congress itself established the precedent for nominating MLAs in UTs and that this practice has been in place for over six decades.
He accused the Congress of misleading the public by now calling this legal process undemocratic.
He also referred to Article 239A of the Constitution, which allows a UT legislature to have both elected and nominated members.
Gupta compared the situation to Parliament, where the President can appoint 12 members to the Rajya Sabha, with full voting rights except in the election of the President.
Gupta said that the Congress is now disowning a law it created and misleading the public about the established process of nominating MLAs in Union Territories.
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