'Will approach the Supreme Court': Omar Abdullah warns Centre over nomination of 5 MLAs to J&K Assembly

PTC News Desk: National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah has raised serious reservations about the Centre's likely nomination of five BJP MLAs to the Jammu and Kashmir assembly. Abdullah warned the Union government and Lieutenant Governor (LG) Manoj Sinha against making these nominations, claiming that it could spark unnecessary political turmoil.

Under Jammu and Kashmir's rules, the Lieutenant Governor has the right to appoint five members to the Legislative Assembly, which currently comprises 90 elected members. If these five nominees are from the BJP, as expected, the assembly's strength will grow to 95 members, moving the majority from 46 to 48.

"I would advise them not to do this. What is the point of nominating these five if it won't influence the government? You would unnecessarily nominate five people to sit in opposition," Abdullah stated. 

While the BJP would still be unable to form a government despite winning 29 seats, the increase in the majority mark would reduce the NC-Congress alliance's lead to one seat more than the needed threshold. "Independent candidates are talking to us, and they will join us, so our lead will go up," said Abdullah.

Abdullah also warned of a possible legal battle if the nominations went ahead. "There would be a fight because we would have to approach the Supreme Court and appeal against it," he said, adding that this might damage J&K's relationship with the Centre at a time when cooperation is essential. "There would be tensions in our relations with the Centre from the first day, a relation that we want to build."

In the first J&K elections since Article 370 was repealed in 2019, the NC-Congress alliance won 49 of the 90 seats. Abdullah won both of the constituencies he ran for, Budgam and Ganderbal, with a substantial majority.

With 42 seats for the NC and six for the Congress, the coalition has easily passed the initial majority threshold of 46. In contrast, the BJP gained 29 seats, up from 25 in 2014 but not enough to take power.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) also won one seat, but the People's Democratic Party (PDP) saw a significant drop, getting only three seats compared to 28 in 2014. Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami of the CPI(M), a prominent politician from Kulgam, attacked the Centre's policies, stating, "The people's vote is against the BJP government and its policies."

The NC has reasserted its dominance. "There have been attempts to destroy the NC in the previous five years. Abdullah asserted that so many parties were formed with the sole purpose of destroying us, but they have all been decimated.