Mehbooba Mufti
Credit: PTI Photo
Srinagar: Opposition PDP president and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday accused the Centre of “blatantly subverting democratic principles” after the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) defended in High Court the Lieutenant Governor’s powers to nominate five members to the Union Territory’s Legislative Assembly.
In a sharp post on X, Mehbooba said: “…….Nowhere else in the country does the Centre handpick legislators to override the public mandate. In India’s only Muslim-majority region, long marred by conflict, this move feels less like governance and more like control.”
She urged the Omar Abdullah-led National Conference government to challenge the provision in court, warning that “silence now would be complicity later.”
The former chief minister linked the nomination powers to what she described as a “series of blows” to J&K’s democratic structure since 2019 — including the “illegal bifurcation” of the state, “skewed delimitation”, and “discriminatory” seat reservations. “Representation must be earned through the people’s vote, not granted by central decree,” she said.
Her remarks came a day after the MHA filed an affidavit in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court defending Sections 15, 15-A and 15-B of the J&K Reorganisation Act, which empower the LG to nominate members to the Assembly over and above its sanctioned strength.
Responding to a petition by Congress leader Ravinder Sharma, the Centre said the provisions were necessary to ensure “adequate representation and inclusivity”, particularly for women, Kashmiri migrants, and persons displaced from Pakistan-occupied Jammu & Kashmir.
The affidavit stressed that the LG could exercise the power in his discretion without the aid and advice of the council of ministers, adding that J&K no longer had special status and was fully governed by the Constitution of India.
Sharma’s petition argues that such powers could “convert a minority government into a majority and vice versa” and sought to restrain the LG from making nominations. The MHA, however, termed the plea “politically motivated” and “premature”, saying such a situation had not arisen after the 2024 polls.
In the assembly polls held in October last year, the NC secured 42 seats out of 90 and has a comfortable majority with the support of the Congress and some independents.