Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 8: While PDP-BJP coalition Government would start its first ever budget session with exactly two-thirds majority in the Legislative Assembly, it would remain in minority in the Legislative Council till March 27 until middle of the session when it would be able to nominate eight MLCs to the Upper House to gain majority there and elect its leaders as the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman.
Out of eight nominated MLCs, three have already retired or completed their term while tenure of five others including Chairman of the Legislative Council, Amrit Malhotra, would end on March 27. The Government was likely to nominate eight MLCs together as the Government business (bills etc, if any) were likely to be taken after March 31 when the budget is passed. The new dispensation would need majority in the Upper House only for the Government business and election of the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman.
Official sources told the Excelsior that PDP-BJP now have strength of 59 in the Legislative Assembly, which is exactly equal to two-thirds majority in the House of 89, which means they can get any Constitutional amendment bill including the setting up of the Delimitation Commission passed comfortably. PDP has 28 MLAs, BJP 25, People’s Conference 2 while they have support of two Independent MLAs-Pawan Gupta and Bakir Hussain Rizvi and two nominated women MLAs.
“The nominated MLAs can cast votes on any legislation, even the one which required the House nod with two-thirds majority. However, they can’t vote in determining majority of the Government,’’ sources said and pointed out that this was for the first time after 1996 Farooq Abdullah regime that any Government has two-thirds majority in the Assembly. Farooq Government too had 59 MLAs-58 on their own and support of an Independent. All the Governments, which followed since 2002 were coalition Governments (PDP-Congress from 2002 to 2005, Congress-PDP from 2005 to 2008 and NC-Congress from 2009 to 2014) but none of them had two-thirds majority.
Contrary to two-third majority in the Assembly, sources said, the PDP-BJP coalition would remain in minority in the Legislative Council at least till March 27 when five remaining nominated MLCs would complete their term and the Government would be in a position to nominate its eight MLCs.
Presently, the PDP-BJP coalition has 11 MLCs in the House of 36 (effective strength 34 as there are two vacancies of Urban Local Bodies quota in the absence of their elections). While PDP-BJP got nine seats out of 11 in recently held elections (PDP 5 and BJP 4), PDP already has two MLCs—Nayeem Akhter and Yash Pal Sharma, which takes the coalition’s strength to 11.
However, eight nominations will take PDP-BJP strength to 19, a clear majority in the House of 34. But they will be short by three for two-third majority in the Upper House i.e. 22. If the Alliance holds ULB elections, they can add two more seats to their kitty. However, it will be only after two years, when six seats will fall vacant that the Alliance would gain two-thirds majority in the Council as well on their own.
Out of eight nominated MLCs, Subash Gupta of Congress had retired last year while Javed Rana of NC ceased to be a member of the Upper House after his election to the Legislative Assembly from Mendhar. Sheikh Ghulam Rasool of NC had also ceased to be a member after he quit NC and joined PDP on the eve of Assembly elections.
Five nominated members, who would retire on March 27 included Amrit Malhotra (Congress), Chairman of the Council and his two party colleagues Ravinder Sharma and Bashir Ahmad Magray while NC leaders Ajay Sadhotra and Ghulam Qadir Pardesi would also complete their term at the same time.
Sources said once PDP-BJP combine reach the mark of 19 with the nominations of eight MLCs, they would be in a position to get their Chairman and Deputy Chairman elected in the Council. While post of the Deputy Chairman is lying vacant after the elections of Javed Rana to the Assembly, the post of the Chairman will fall vacant on March 27 with the completion of term of veteran Congress leader Amrit Malhotra on March 27.
As BJP’s Kavinder Gupta is tipped to be elected as new Speaker in the election scheduled for March 18, the post of Chairman Legislative Council would go to the PDP. The Deputy Chairman will be from the BJP. However, election to these two posts will be held once the Governor nominates eight MLCs to the Council on recommendations of the Government so that the new Government was in a position to get its MLCs elected to the new posts.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed will be Leader of the House in the Assembly while Education Minister Naeem Akhter will be Leader of the House in the Council. Akhter is the only Cabinet Minister from the Council. BJP has one MLC-Chering Dorjey of Leh as the Minister of State.
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