BJP's no confidence motion against govt regected

SYED ALI SAFVI

SRINAGAR, Oct 5: The J&K state legislative assembly today rejected no confidence motion, moved by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against Omar Abdullah-led coalition government, following which irate members of BJP and J&K National Panther’s Party (JKNPP) staged walkout from the House. The House also witnessed noisy scenes over the issue of scarcity of fertilizers in some areas of the winter capital.

After the conclusion of question hour, leader of BJP in the state Assembly, Chaman Lal Gupta, rose up from his seat and asked the Speaker legislative Assembly, Mohammad Akbar Lone, about the no confidence notice his party had sent to the Speaker on September 28. The Speaker informed the House that the notice had some technical flaws and he had sent it back to the BJP members.

Pertinently, a day ahead of the commencement of J&K Assembly session, BJP had submitted a no-confidence notice against the coalition government, accusing it of being a “complete failure”. The no-confidence notice was sent to the Speaker by Chaman Lal Gupta. The Speaker had referred the notice to his secretariat for examination.

Speaking after the question hour, Gupta accused Omar Abdullah-led coalition government of having “failed on all fronts”.

“This is the reason why we had moved no-confidence motion against this government,” he said.

The Speaker asked the legislators, present in the House, to rise from their seats if they were in favour of the motion and want discussion on it.

Thirteen members of BJP and JKNPP rose up from their seats while a major chunk of legislators present in the House remained seated.

The members of BJP and JKNPP raised slogans against the government, which prompted senior NC leader, Mir Saifullah, to ask these members to maintain the decorum of the House.

Rejecting the motion, the Speaker informed the House that in order to take up no confidence motion for discussion, it requires the support of at least 23 legislators.

JKNPP leader, Harsh Dev Singh, said that Omar Abdullah should himself step down from his position without any voting. Meanwhile, all the 13 members of BJP and JKNPP gathered near the front row and raised slogans against the government. After indulging in sloganeering for some time, the members finally walked out of the House.

Earlier, the members of BJP and JKNPP also took on the government over the scarcity of fertilizers. As soon as the assembly proceedings began this morning at around 9:30AM, BJP and JKNPP members rose up from their seats and raised the issue of scarcity of fertilizers in the state, particularly in the winter capital.

The Speaker had a tough time to pacify the members and bring order in the House. He suggested them that the issue would be taken up after the question hour.

Pointing towards the empty seat of minister for agriculture, the Speaker said, “In the meantime, the concerned minister would also be present in the House.”

After the conclusion of question hour, the members of BJP and JKNPP again rose up from their seats and asked the Speaker that the issue be taken seriously as farmers were suffering on account of this.

Legislators representing far off constituencies in Jammu said that farmers in their constituencies do not have fertilizer available even for growing vegetables.

In reply, minister for agriculture, Ghulam Hassan Mir, ensured the members that by October eight, all kinds of fertilizers would be made available in these areas.

Meanwhile, president of People’s Democratic Forum and MLA Khan Sahib, Hakeem Mohammad Yassen, today said that the Kashmir imbroglio was not about development or unemployment, but it was a political issue.

Participating in the discussion on the prevailing situation in Kashmir valley, Yaseen said that the six-decade-old issue would be resolved only through talks.

“Kashmir has been a victim of some historical blunders, but now only sincerity and commitment can restore peace and normalcy in the state,” he said.

Yaseen said that Kashmir issue was hanging fire since 1947, adding that leaders of the sub-continent including Jawahar Lal Nehru, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah and Mohammad Ayub Khan had also debated over it. He said all the successive regimes at New Delhi had taken the issue on experimental basis, maintaining that time has come to resolve the issue seriously on humanitarian grounds.

Participating in the discussion, JKNPP leader, Harsh Dev Singh, termed the four-month unrest in the valley as “unfortunate”. He said the valley of Kashmir was preferred destination of Rishis, Munis, and the land was known as the “paradise on earth”, but the continuous bloodbath had made life miserable in the valley.

“We need to identify the disease so that it is cured,” he said.

He opposed the notion of holding talks with separatists, saying that engaging them in talks would not yield anything as they were responsible for the bloodshed in the valley.

Participating in the discussion, senior NC leader, Chowdhary Mohammad Ramzan, termed the killings of over hundred people during the present turmoil as “most unfortunate”. He said that New Delhi should think positively for resolving the Kashmir issue.

Ramzan blamed the “handful of Kashmiri people responsible for taking the entire society hostage”. He also suggested New Delhi to widen its scope of dialogue with all sections of people including separatists.

The former minister said that his party had adopted a resolution during its earlier tenure for greater autonomy to the state. Restoration of autonomy, he said, would strengthen centre-state relations further besides proving instrumental in bringing permanent peace and stability.

Speaking on the occasion, senior BJP leader, Ashok Khajuria, said that his party had long ago maintained that a nation could not have two constitutions.

He said that had Jawaharlal Nehru not taken Kashmir to United Nations, the present situation would have never surfaced.

Taking a dig at Congress, Khajuria said that the party had instigated war between former chief ministers Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din Shah and Farooq Abdullah.

“You must be worried about them because they (Congress) can bring down your government,” he told the chief minister. “BJP is your open enemy. You don’t have to worry about us”

Participating in the discussion, leader of BJP in the assembly, Chaman Lal Gupta, termed the present unrest in the valley as “failure of government”.

“In addition to the loss of over 100 human lives, more than 5000 people have been injured,” he said. “They also included over 4000 men of the forces including those of the state police and CRPF.”

He said that the coalition government, instead of accepting their follies and failures, were “beating about the bushes”.

He out rightly rejected the proposal of autonomy and revocation of AFSPA to bring back normalcy in the valley. Gupta said need of the hour was to work together and expose forces behind the present crisis.

Speaking on the occasion, senior NC leader and MLA Kupwara, Mir Saifullah, accused PDP president, Mehbooba Mufti, of “fueling unrest in Kashmir”

He said that Mehbooba had said on record that her party’s youth president in Anantnag had lost his life during the ongoing unrest in the valley.

“This implies that their party is orchestrating violence to destabilize the government to fulfill their lust for power,” he said. “The aim of the PDP is to remove the chief minister in the name of the blood of innocent persons who lost their precious lives during current turmoil.”

Saifullah alleged that majority of the youth against whom FIR’s were lodged in police stations were PDP activists, who were given directions to trigger violence and provoke the innocent youth to fuel unrest in the state.