Jammu & Kashmir: At least 15 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members, including Langate MLA Sheikh Khurshid, were on Friday marshalled out of the Jammu & Kashmir Assembly as they attempted to protest in the well of the House. 

Soon after the speaker evicted the leaders, 11 other BJP MLAs walked out of the House in protest.

The House has been witnessing uproar for the last two days as BJP MLAs have been protesting vociferously after the resolution to restore the special status passed by an overwhelming vote on Wednesday, November 6. 

‘Remove them away…’

The BJP members had jumped into the well, grabbed the papers, and tore them into pieces, causing the speaker to marshall them out. 

“Remove them away…,” J&K Assembly‘s newly elected speaker Abdul Rahim Rather could be heard repeating, ordering for the BJP leaders to be rushed out, according to the visuals released by ANI. 

When the House met for the day in the morning, the BJP MLAs raised slogans like ‘Pakistani agenda nahi chalega.’ Amid the chaos, the speaker adjourned the proceedings for 15 minutes. 

Following the adjournment, the MLAs continued to protest, even after Rahim Rather requested them to take their seats.

J&K Assembly ruckus: The story behind

After the resolution seeking the restoration of the erstwhile state’s constitutional special status was passed on Wednesday, the Assembly urged the Centre to begin discussions with elected representatives from the region to restore Jammu and Kashmir‘s special status and constitutional guarantees and establish the necessary constitutional mechanisms for this purpose.

“This Legislative Assembly reaffirms the importance of the special status and constitutional guarantees, which safeguarded the identity, culture and rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, and expresses concern over their unilateral removal,” PTI quoted Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary as saying.

J&K Assembly

Today’s episode marks the third day that the Assembly has witnessed chaos and bedlam, paralysing the proceedings. 

On November 7, the Assembly erupted into chaos after Engineer Rashid’s brother and MLA Khurshid Ahmad Sheikh displayed a banner on Article 370, the provision granting special status to the erstwhile state abolished in August 2019.

A ruckus ensued in Jammu and Kashmir Assembly in Srinagar on November 7 after Engineer Rashid’s brother and MLA Khurshid Ahmad Sheikh displayed a banner on Article 370, the provision granting special status to the erstwhile state abolished in August 2019. 

Leader of Opposition and Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Sunil Sharma objected to the act by Sheikh.  

“We demand restoration of Article 370 and 35A. Release of political prisoners,” the banner displayed by the Awami Ittehad Party MLA from Langate read. The House was adjourned briefly after the objection by BJP members led to bedlam. Once the House reconvened, the BJP MLAs continued to protest.  The house was then adjourned for the day.  

Wednesday’s bedlam took place a day after ruckus erupted in the as Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary tabled a resolution urging the restoration of the erstwhile state’s special status.

“That this legislative assembly reaffirms the importance of the special status and constitutional guarantees, which safeguarded the identity, culture, and rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, and expresses concern over their unilateral removal,” the resolution moved by Choudhary and later passed by the House said.

The move reignited tensions surrounding Article 370, which had been scrapped in August 2019 and previously granted theersthile state a special constitutional autonomy.

The newly-elected Jammu and Kashmir Assembly witnessed chaotic scenes on the first day of its first session after opposition member Waheed Parra of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) moved a resolution against the scrapping of Article 370.

The BJP’s strong reaction reflects the party’s firm stance on Article 370. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government revoked J&K’s special status in August 2019, citing national integration and uniformity as reasons for the reorganization.

TheJammu and KashmirAssembly convened for its first session in six years on Monday, November 4, and will conclude on November 8.

Article 370 of the Constitution, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, was abrogated by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government. The move led to the bifurcation of the erstwhile state into two Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah said on November 4 that the resolution moved in the assembly seeking restoration of Article 370 was introduced just ‘for the cameras’ and carries no real significance.

Abdullah said if there was a genuine intention behind the resolution, it should have been discussed with the National Conference, the ruling party in the Union Territory.

“We knew that preparation for this was being made by a member. The reality is that the people of Jammu and Kashmir do not approve of the decision taken on August 5, 2019. If they had approved, then the results today would have been different. How the House will reflect and discuss this will not be decided by any one member,” Abdullah said, addressing the House soon after the newly-elected Jammu and Kashmir Assembly was marred by ruckus on the first day after opposition MLA Wahid Parra of the People’s Democratic Party moved a resolution against the scrapping of Article 370.

“The resolution brought today has no importance, but it is only for the cameras. If there was a purpose behind it, then they would have discussed this with us before,” Abdullah said.

The erstwhile state lost special status and was bifurcated into two union territories after the Narendra Modi-led Union government abrogated Article 370 in August 2019.

Waheed Parra’s Resolution

Soon after Parra, 36, started reading the resolution, BJP lawmakers in the Assembly registered opposition. The speaker adjourned the house amid calls to meet again for L-G Manoj Sinha’s address.

Jammu and KashmirJammu and Kashmir through the J&K reorganisation Act, 2019 and calls for its complete rescinding,” reads the resolution,” read the resolution.

“House further resolves to strive for the restoration of special status and all constitutional guarantees granted to Jammu and Kashmir in their original prisitine form,” it read.

PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti lauded the PDP leader for introducing the resolution in the assembly.

“Proud of Waheed Parra for introducing resolution in JK Assembly opposing the revocation of Article 370 and resolve to restore the special status God bless you,” the former chief minister wrote in a post on X.

The restoration of Article 370 and Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood as well as implementation of the autonomy resolution was one of the main promises made by the National conference in its manifesto for the Jammu-Kashmir elections.

The resolution brought today has no importance but it is only for the cameras.

The Congress-National Conference alliance won 49 seats in the 90-member assembly, while the BJP won 29 seats. The Assembly election was held after a gap of 10 years and since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019. Abdullah was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir on September 16.

The newly-elected Jammu and Kashmir Assembly faced chaos on the first day after opposition member Waheed Parra of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) moved a resolution against the scrapping of Article 370.

The erstwhile state lost its special status and was bifurcated into two union territories after the Narendra Modi-led Union government abrogated Article 370 in August 2019.

Soon after Parra began reading the resolution, BJP lawmakers protested vehemently and created a din. The Speaker adjourned the House amid the uproar to meet again for Lieutenant Governor  Manoj Sinha’s address.

Jammu and Kashmir Assembly convened for its first session in six years on Monday, November 4, and will conclude on November 8. Besides the L-G’s address, the Assembly will take up obituary references for former legislators who have passed away since the last session of the erstwhile J&K Assembly. 

The Contentious Resolution

The Speaker of the House, Rahim Rather of the ruling National Conference, however, said he had not admitted any resolution as yet.

“This house opposes the revocation of special status of J&K and constitutional disempowerment of Jammu and Kashmir through the J&K reorganisation Act, 2-19 and calls for its complete rescinding,” the resolution reads.

“House further resolves to strive for the restoration of special status and all constitutional guarantees granted to Jammu and Kashmir in their original pristine form,” it read.

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti congratulated Parra for moving the resolution. 

“Proud of Waheed Parra for introducing resolution in JK Assembly opposing the revocation of Article 370 and resolve to restore the special status. God bless you [sic],” she said in a post on X.

Who is Waheed Parra?

Waheed Parra, the MLA from Pulwama, lost the Lok Sabha Election 2024 from the Srinagar parliamentary seat. He is the President of PDP’s youth wing and was nominated as a Peace Fellow at the Yale International Leadership Centre in 2023 but could not attend as he was denied a passport. 

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested Parra in a military-related case three days after he filed his nomination for the District Development Council (DDC) election from a Pulwama constituency in November 2020. He won the election from jail.

He was granted bail on January 9, 2021, but was again arrested outside the prison by Counter Intelligence Kashmir, a special cell of the J&K Police, for allegedly having links with militants and separatists. He was finally released on bail in June 2023. 

Senior National Conference leader and former minister Abdul Rahim Rather was elected speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly, which convened in Srinagar on Monday, November 4, for its first session in six years.

The Union Territory’s Minister for Agriculture Production, Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, and Cooperatives, Javid Ahmed Dar, moved the motion to elect Rather as the speaker of the 90-member house.

After his election, Rather was escorted to the chair by the Leader of the House, Omar Abdullah, and BJP’s Sunil Sharma, the Leader of the Opposition.

Rather had earlier held the post of the Speaker in the legislative assembly of the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir. He was also the Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2008, when the PDP-Congress coalition government ruled the State.

All eyes will be on the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha‘s address scheduled at 11:30 am. The session will continue for 5 days.

All eyes on Article 370 resolution

The NC, which won the UT’s assembly polls in alliance with the Congress party, is expected to move a resolution on Article 370 to ‘register a protest against the Centre’s measures taken on August 5, 2019’.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Union government’s move in 2019 not only abrogated the special provision but also split the erstwhile state into two Union Territories – Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, also NC vice president, had pledged to bring a resolution on Article 370 in the Assembly in its first session.

The NC has the support of 55 MLAs in the 90-member Assembly, which was elected in September-October after a 10-year gap. Jammu and Kashmir was under the President’s rule from 2018 until the latest assembly elections.

Abdul Rahim Rather’s election as Speaker symbolizes a new chapter in Jammu and Kashmir’s legislative history.

The Assembly’s first session started on November 4 and will conclude on November 8. Besides the L-G address, obituary references for former legislators who passed away since the last session of the erstwhile J&K Assembly are also scheduled to be taken up.

As per the schedule, the Motion of Thanks on the L-G’s address will be discussed on November 6 and 7.

The Union government is likely to initiate the process of restoring statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, five years after the erstwhile state was bifurcated into two Union Territories – Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has assured Chief Minister Omar Abdullah the centre’s full support to the newly elected government, a report in NDTV said quoting sources. Omar met Shah in Delhi on Wednesday.

“The meeting that lasted half an hour was held in a very cordial atmosphere. The home minister assured the centre’s full support to the newly elected government and to initiate the process of restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir,” the NDTV report quoted a source as saying.

Abdullah-led J&K cabinet passed a resolution demanding the restoration of statehood in its first cabinet meeting held last week.

Abdullah to meet PM Modi

Abdullah is likely to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday and submit a copy of the resolution to him as well. The resolution also emphasises on the J&K government’s commitment to protect the identity and constitutional rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

The home minister assured the centre’s full support to the newly elected government.

Following the scrapping of Article 370 in August 2019, Jammu and Kashmir was downgraded to a UT.

Elections for the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly were held in three phases, from September 18 to October 1, resulting in the formation of a government by the National Conference-Congress alliance.

Before taking the oath, Omar Abdullah had said that the first task of his government would be to become the voice of the people. Earlier, Congress leader P Chidambaram had also expressed that ‘first task of the new government should be to demand the restoration of statehood to J-K’, and all the INDIA parties should support it.

In its first cabinet meeting, Omar Abdullah-led Jammu and Kashmir government passed a resolution urging the Centre to restore statehood of the Union Territory on Friday. He is also expected to travel to Delhi and hand over the draft of the resolution to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Jammu and Kashmir government held its first cabinet meeting yesterday after Omar Abdullah was sworn in as the CM on October 16.

Following the dilution of Article 370 in 2019, Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood was terminated. On October 17, 2024, the Supreme Court listed a plea seeking the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.

‘Statehood has to be time bound…’

Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for applicants, had urged a bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra that the plea needed an urgent hearing.

“There is an MA in the Article 370 matter, the implementation for conferring statehood…it has to be time-bound,” Sankaranarayanan said, to which the CJI DY Chandrachud agrees, legal news agency Live Law reported.

Earlier, on December 11, 2023, the Supreme Court had unanimously upheld the revocation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir. In addition, the apex court had also directed for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Elections to be held by September 2024, highlighting that Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood be restored at the ‘earliest.’

Elections for the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly were held in three phases, from September 18 to October 1, resulting in the formation of a government by the National Conference-Congress alliance.

‘First task to demand statehood…’

Before taking the oath, Omar Abdullah had said that the first task of his government would be to become the voice of the people. Earlier, Congress leader P. Chidambaram had also expressed that ‘first task of the new government should be to demand the restoration of statehood to J-K’, and all the I.N.D.I.A parties should support it.

NC President, Farooq Abdullah expressed optimism that the Centre would soon restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir. Farooq Abdullah was ‘sure’ that the ‘Government of India would soon restore J&K’s statehood’, stated an NDTV report.

LISTEN | Amit Baruah in conversation with Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami

The CPI (M) leader says this election was the only option for the people of Jammu and Kashmir to express themselves. 
| Video Credit:
Interview by Amit Baruah; Editing by Samson Ronald K.; Produced by: Jinoy Jose P.

In a conversation with senior journalist Amit Baruah, Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami, a veteran CPI(M) leader and MLA from Jammu and Kashmir’s Kulgam, offers a candid and nuanced perspective on the region’s recent Assembly election—the first since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. Speaking after securing his fifth term as an MLA, Tarigami paints a complex picture of a populace eager for democratic expression yet constrained by years of political turmoil and centralised control.

He describes the elections as a watershed moment, where citizens across all demographics seized a rare opportunity to voice their concerns through the ballot, breaking a long spell of enforced silence. However, Tarigami’s optimism is tempered with caution as he outlines the challenges ahead: a polarised political landscape, diminished local autonomy, and the delicate balancing act required in dealing with the Central government.

Amit Baruah is a senior journalist.

LISTEN | Amit Baruah in conversation with Mirwaiz Umar Farooq

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq says this election was a vote against the BJP and the policies of Narendra Modi’s government. 
| Video Credit:
 Interview by Amit Baruah; Editing by Samson Ronald K.; Supervising producer: Jinoy Jose P.

Hurriyat Conference Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the religious head of Kashmiri Muslims, talks to Amit Baruah in this episode of the Frontline Conversations podcast at his home in Nigeen, Srinagar. After years of house arrest, he shares his views on Kashmir’s current situation and its future. The Mirwaiz discusses the recent elections in Kashmir, calling them a “consolidated ballot” against the changes made by New Delhi since 2019. He says people voted to show they reject these changes, not because they’re happy with the “Naya Kashmir” idea. He talks about how the BJP government’s actions have affected Kashmir.

The Mirwaiz believes that removing Article 370 hasn’t solved any problems. Instead, he thinks it has made the Kashmir issue more international, with China now involved because of Ladakh. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq compares the current BJP government with Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s time. He remembers Vajpayee’s efforts to solve the Kashmir issue “within the ambit of insaniyat” (humanity). The Mirwaiz sees the current government’s approach as very different, saying it wants to “finish the identity of the people of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).”

Amit Baruah is a senior journalist.

After a decade, Jammu and Kashmir has elected its representatives for the legislative Assembly. The Union Territory’s people have given a historic mandate to the National Conference (NC)-Congress-CPI(M) alliance, with 49 of the 90 Assembly seats. The last time any party or pre-election bloc crossed the majority mark was in the 1996 Assembly election.

In 1996, the NC bagged 54 (if we exclude Leh-Ladakh and Kargil region) of 83 Assembly seats. Since then, the highest number of seats won by any party has been 28.

This time, the NC alone won 42 seats. The BJP with 29 seats occupies the position of the main opposition party in the House. In a remarkable feat, the BJP bagged the second-highest number of seats for the second time, the first being in 2014. In 2014, the BJP won 30 seats (after accounting for the conversion of seats based on the delimitation in 2022). The biggest loser in this election is Mehbooba Mufti’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). It won 29 seats in 2014 but was reduced to just 3 seats this time. The PDP lost 14 per cent of the votes (see Table 2) as well, compared with the previous Assembly election.

Also Read | Statehood not a gift for BJP or government to give: Omar Abdullah

The mandate looks like a huge, consolidated victory in terms of seats won by the parties and alliances, but a deep dive into the data reveals many variations. At the aggregate level, the result suggests that the NC alliance received overwhelming support from the people and won the majority, but at the vote-share level, the alliance received 36 per cent or a little over one-third of the total votes only, which is 3 per cent less than the parties’ combined vote share in 2014. However, it is the Congress’ loss of votes that has led to the drop in the alliance’s vote share. The Congress contested the 2014 election without tying up with the NC and received 17 per cent of the votes, but this time the party received just 12 per cent. The NC gained a 2 per cent vote share.

Apart from the major parties, Independents (including the Jamaat-e-Islami and Engineer Rashid’s Awami Ittehad Party [AIP]) received 17 per cent of the votes, 10 per cent more than in 2014. The other small parties, including the Peoples Conference (PC) and the Bahujan Samaj Party, received 13 per cent of the votes, 5 per cent more than in the previous election (see Table 2).

The region-wise results make it clear that Jammu and the Valley stand for two very distinct support bases. The BJP won all its seats in the Jammu region (29 of 43) with a 45 per cent vote share. In the Valley, it drew a blank. The NC-led alliance won 41 of the 47 seats in the Valley with a 42 per cent vote share. The NC alone won 35 seats, 24 more than in the previous election. These two numbers clearly show that the Jammu and Kashmir regions have given a split verdict to the two main parties/alliances.

The two regions of Jammu and the Kashmir Valley have three subregions each; the Valley being divided into Central, North, and South, and Jammu into the Chenab Valley, Jammu, and Pir Panjal subregions. The deeper we analyse the data along these lines, the more we notice significant variations in the outcomes at the subregional level.

In the Valley, the NC and the PDP used to be the main contenders. However, for the past few years, the PDP has been a declining force here. The party that bagged 26 of the 47 seats in the Valley in 2014 could manage to win only 3 this time. Its decline was visible even in the Lok Sabha election earlier this year. The PDP was once not just an electoral opponent of the NC in the Valley region, it was also an ideological challenger. However, the party’s support base dwindled after it allied with the BJP in 2015.

In the Lok Sabha election this year, a new political force emerged. Engineer Rashid won the Baramulla seat, defeating two stalwarts: Omar Abdullah and Sajad Lone (PC). Rashid’s victory created a buzz because he won from jail, with his son campaigning for him. It seemed to indicate that the people of the Valley were not happy with the two established parties and thought Rashid would better represent their voice. However, the Assembly election did not reflect this trend. While Rashid had leads in 14 of the 18 Assembly segments in the Lok Sabha election, his AIP could not even open its account in the Assembly election. The AIP and its alliance partner, the Jamaat-e-Islami, received just about 2 per cent of the votes. The Jamaat, contesting an election after 35 years, had hoped to benefit from the influence it had in South Kashmir, but all it could manage was a little over 5 per cent of the total vote share of South Kashmir.

NC alliance and BJP: Competing Narratives

Similarly, the AIP, which was expected to do well in the Kashmir region, performed poorly. It received just 3 per cent of the votes in Central and South Kashmir.

The overall outcome suggests that the NC has regained its pre-eminent position after a long time. While the PDP was decimated and the AIP failed to win voters over, the NC succeeded in convincing the Valley’s electorate that it was the only party that could form a stable and strong government and bargain with the Central government for statehood and the other privileges lost in August 2019. Whether the NC alliance will succeed or not, only time will tell.

In Jammu’s three subregions, which are based on geographical variation—Jammu in the plains, and Chenab and Pir Panjal in the mountains—the Congress used to have a lot of influence. However, the BJP broke this trend in 2014 with the Congress’ huge electoral base shifting loyalties. In the 2014 Assembly election, the BJP won 25 of the 37 seats (before the 2022 delimitation of the State) in this region. After the delimitation exercise, the total number of seats in the Jammu region went up to 43, and of these the BJP was in the lead in 30 (the seat conversion exercise was carried out by the Data Action Lab for Emerging Societies [DALES] team after identifying and matching polling booth data).

Also Read | Kashmir’s guarded optimism 

In this election, the BJP won 29 Assembly seats: 22 in Jammu, 6 in Chenab, and 1 in Pir Panjal. In terms of vote share, both in Chenab and Pir Panjal, the BJP received around one-third of the total vote share (see Table 4). However, in the Jammu subregion, which has the highest number of Assembly seats (24), the BJP received the lion’s share (54 per cent).

The NC alliance managed to receive just one-fourth of the total votes in the Jammu subregion. The PDP received 0.38 per cent votes—the party had 5 per cent in the Jammu subregion in the 2014 Assembly election. In Chenab and Pir Panjal, the NC alliance had an edge over the BJP.

The regional-level analysis clearly suggests that the Union Territory’s two different regions have also expressed two distinct electoral choices. The NC has emerged strong in the Valley, whereas Jammu, where the BJP has been growing continuously, clearly favours the national party. How this will impact administrative decisions in the days to come is the critical question now. 

Ashish Ranjan is an election researcher and co-founder of Data Action Lab for Emerging Societies.