BJP MLAs protest, stage walkout
Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, Feb 9: The UT Assembly witnessed a bedlam today after a PDP member accused the National Conference (NC) Government of pushing the J&K into debt trap by bringing in the Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment (SASCI).
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The trouble started after PDP Legislator Waheed Ur Rehman Para speaking on annual budget for 2026-27 made a reference to SASCI Scheme saying that Government has handed over the UT to Adani and Ambani and this way they will capture the UT and it will be put into debt trap. While quoting the example of Sri Lanka and Paksitan, he said “What happened to failed states like Sri Lanka and Pakistan”.
Para was strongly supported by his party members including Fayaz Mir and Independent member Sheikh Khurshid who also stood up from their seats to counter NC members who strongly countered the PDP Legislator. Despite Mubarak Gul’s (who was on the Chair) repeated pleas to NC members to take their seats they continued to protest and ruckus continued in the House as BJP MLAs also stood up and protested accusing the Chair of not giving them adequate time to speak.
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NC Member Altaf Ahmed Kallu who was engaged in heated exchanges with PDP MLAs left his seat to have a brawl with Para and other PDP MLAs who were also protesting on their seats. Kullu was twice prevented by his party colleagues to avert the physical clash.
The BJP MLAs who were also protesting against the chair for not granting them time to take part in the discussion on annual budget were also engaged in strong arguments with the Presiding Officer and they moved towards front rows to stage a walkout. Despite Mubarak Gul’s appeal that next Speaker will be from BJP they remained adamant on their stand and staged a walkout while the brawl between PDP and NC members continued.
Dy Chief Minister, Surinder Choudhry also supported his party MLAs and took on the PDP MLAs. He strongly refuted Para’s allegations and said Para is having a mike in his pocket and it should be probed who allowed him to bring mic in the House. He and other NC members appealed Presiding Officer of the House that Para’s mic be seized.
BJP Chief Whip Rajiv Jasrotia and senior leader, S S Salathia while protesting said that their party be given time. They repeatedly argued with presiding Officer over this issue. Salathia also accused NC members of interrupting the BJP MLAs when they stand up to take part in the debate while his party MLAs do not interrupt any ruling party member while speaking.
As BJP legislators walked out, Presiding Officer, Mubarak Gul said “Let them stage walkout as it is part of the game”.
As high drama continued in the House and the order could not be restored, Gul adjourned the House at 1-15 pm, 15 minutes short of normal time, up to 2-30 pm.
Earlier Para said “The Chief Minister (Omar Abdullah) and NC MLAs are boasting about bringing Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment (SASCI) to the UT. This is not a welfare scheme but a debt trap through which you are mortgaging J&K to industrialists,”
“You are taking loans from the market, which amounts to destruction and sets a very dangerous precedent,” he added.
Para said the NC had received a huge mandate to protect the interests of Jammu and Kashmir in the aftermath of the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 and to work towards reclaiming the erstwhile State with all its safeguards intact.
“It is unfortunate that instead of honouring that mandate, you are putting the entire J&K on sale today,” he said.
Para urged the CM to rethink the scheme, cautioning that J&K should not be pushed towards a situation similar to that faced by “failed states like Sri Lanka and Pakistan”.
Deputy Chief Minister, Surinder Choudhary led the counter attack and rejected the allegations, accusing the opposition leaders of “playing to the gallery” and politicising a financial assistance framework intended for development.
Raising concerns over governance and budgetary performance, the PDP Legislator said while people had high expectations from the NC Government, Jammu and Kashmir was passing through “the most unprecedented times”.
“There is no doubt that the challenges before the NC Government are immense, and it is also true that such challenges have not been faced by any Government in the past seven decades,” Para said.
He acknowledged that the present Government was operating under serious constraints but said public expectations remained high and could not be ignored.
Referring to last year’s budget of Rs 1.40 lakh crore, he said nearly Rs 40,000 crore was earmarked for revenue expenditure while capital expenditure stood at around Rs 7,600 crore.
“With barely 30 days left for the financial year to end, I want to know whether the Government is capable of spending nearly Rs 1 lakh crore within this short period,” Para said.
He claimed that only about 12 per cent of expenditure had been achieved so far and alleged that around 100 projects recorded zero spending, including in critical sectors such as agriculture, horticulture, health and education.
“Allocations are meaningless unless institutional bottlenecks are addressed. The Government must explain whether the failure to spend is due to dual power structures or administrative paralysis,” Para said.
Highlighting the social crisis, he said nearly 70 per cent of the population comprised youth, with about 32 per cent reportedly suffering from depression.
He also demanded the refund of approximately Rs 50 crore collected as fees, questioning how families were expected to arrange such amounts as the unemployment rate in J&K is highest in the country.
Flagging substance abuse, he claimed that around 5 lakh people were affected by drug addiction and nearly 4 lakh by alcohol abuse, while alleging that the budget failed to accord priority to the issue.
He also described cancer as a “silent pandemic” claiming thousands of deaths without adequate response and questioning the silence of the Government on this issue. He demanded rejuvenating the Cancer Centre in SKIMS or opening TATA type cancer institutes at district headquarters in both regions of J&K.
The Legislator further raised concerns over the closure of 215 schools linked to banned Jamaat-e-Islami, affecting nearly 50,000 students, and sought a detailed explanation for the decision.
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