The Lieutenant Governor on Saturday approved the proposal to grant full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir. On Thursday, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's cabinet passed a proposal to restore statehood.
Deputy CM Surinder Kumar Chaudhary said that the Center should fulfill its promise and restore the status of the state, it is our right. We are demanding what he already promised.
Omar will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi in 2 days and hand over the draft proposal to him.
Omar had also said during the assembly elections that the proposal to restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir would be approved in the first cabinet meeting only. He passed the resolution the next day after taking oath as CM on October 16.
On August 5, 2019, with the removal of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, the central government abolished the full statehood and divided it into two Union Territories (Jammu-Kashmir and Ladakh).
Deputy CM Surendra Chaudhary, ministers Sakina Masood Itu, Javed Ahmed Rana, Javid Ahmed Dar and Satish Sharma were also present in the cabinet meeting on Thursday.
PDP said- a decision was also to be taken on the reinstatement of 370 Regarding the decision of the Omar cabinet, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said that this is a big blow for us. Why did the Omar government pass the proposal to restore statehood? A decision was also to be taken on the restoration of Article 370.
PDP MLA Waheed Parra said on Friday – Omar Abdullah's passing of the resolution granting statehood is nothing short of supporting the Centre's decision of August 5, 2019. Omar sought votes only on the promise of restoring Article 370.
Legislative process after Cabinet approval… 3 points
- The proposal will be sent to the central government through the lieutenant governor. The next decision has to be taken by the central government. Only the central government can process changes for full statehood in the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act.
- The state of Jammu and Kashmir was reorganized into two union territories under the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019. Therefore, for full statehood, amendments have to be made in the Reorganization Act by passing a law in Parliament. These changes will be made under Articles 3 and 4 of the Constitution.
- Granting statehood will require the approval of new legislative changes in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, meaning the proposal must be approved by Parliament. After approval it will be sent to the President. After their approval, Jammu and Kashmir will get full statehood from the date of issuance of notification of this legislative change by the President.
What will change after Jammu and Kashmir gets full statehood?
- The State Legislature shall have power to legislate in matters of public order and concurrent list.
- If the Government introduces any financial bill, it shall not require the assent of the Lt. Governor for the same.
- The State Government will have complete control over the Anti-Corruption Bureau and All India Services. That means the transfer and posting of officers in the state will be as per the state government, the lieutenant governor will not have control over it.
- With the amendment of Articles 286, 287, 288 and 304, the State Government will have all powers in matters of trade, taxation and commerce.
- 10% of the number of MLAs in a union territory can be made ministers, restoration of statehood will also remove this restriction on the number of ministers and up to 15% of the number of MLAs can be made ministers.
- Besides, the state government will get more powers than the center to complete schemes like releasing jail inmates and fulfilling other election promises of the National Conference.
The state level case also reached the Supreme Court A petition seeking statehood to Jammu and Kashmir has also been filed in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear within two months a plea seeking full statehood status to Jammu and Kashmir UT. Advocate Gopal Shankar Narayan has filed this petition on behalf of Zahoor Ahmed Bhat and Khurshid Ahmed Malik. CJI DY Chandrachud said he would listen to it.
After Omar's oath, the Congress said that the struggle will continue until full statehood is achieved
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha administered oath to Omar Abdullah as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir at the Sher-e-Kashmir International Conference Center on October 16.
Omar Abdullah took oath as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir on 16 October. The Congress, which contested the assembly elections along with the National Conference, did not join the government. Congress supported the government from outside. The party says its fight will continue till Jammu and Kashmir gets statehood.
BJP will get the post of Deputy Speaker in the Assembly According to sources, for the seventh time MLA and senior NC leader Abdul Rahim Rather will become the Speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly. The National Conference has decided to give the post of Deputy Speaker to the BJP.
Mubarak Gul, who became MLA for the seventh time, can be sworn in as pro tem speaker. Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha may administer oath to the pro-tem speaker on October 21. After this he will administer oath to all the new MLAs.
In September, the first assembly elections were held in the state after the abrogation of Article 370 Assembly elections were held for the first time in the state last month after the abrogation of Article 370. The results of the three-phase elections were declared on October 8. In which the National Conference (NC) emerged as the largest party. The party got 42 seats. NC's ally Congress won 6 seats and CPI(M) one seat.
BJP became the second largest party with 29 seats. At the same time, the PDP, which was the single largest party in the 2014 assembly elections, won only 3 seats. Party chief Mehbooba Mufti's daughter Iltija Mufti also lost from Bijbehra seat. In the last election, the party won 28 seats.
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Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
