 Sanjay Pandita
Early Times Report
Jammu, Sept 29: In a dramatic turn in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly on Tuesday, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah withdrew a Bill proposing a hike in the salaries and allowances of legislators, a day after his government introduced it. The retreat came in the face of strong opposition from BJP members.
L.A. Bill No. 14 of 2026, which sought to amend the Salaries and Allowances of Members of the Jammu and Kashmir State Legislature Act, 1960, had been listed for consideration and passage. As it came up, BJP MLAs stood against it and demanded that the government first regularise daily wagers.
Omar made it clear that numbers were not the issue. "I had the majority, but I will not pass it. I will withdraw it," he told the House.
He said the matter had been part of the committee's report, and claimed the BJP had raised no objection at that stage, even though its own legislators were on the committee. Omar added that he had anticipated the opposition would politicise the issue and had already decided that the Bill would go if even a single member objected. "I was aware that they will politicise it, so I had made up my mind that if any member, even if it is one, opposes it, will withdraw the Bill," he said.
The Chief Minister then turned the daily wagers demand on the BJP. He asked why the party had not regularised daily wagers when it was in power before his government took office in 2024. He said the issue was now being raised with the present government even though the previous administration had been in charge until 2024.
When the Speaker put the motion for withdrawal to a vote, BJP members did not vote in its favour, drawing laughter from National Conference members. The Bill was subsequently withdrawn by the government.
The withdrawal came a day after Omar introduced a series of government bills in the Assembly revising the salaries, allowances and pensions of sitting and former legislators, as part of the ongoing session's business.
The proposals included raising the Chief Minister's monthly salary from Rs 70,000 to Rs 95,000 and a Minister's salary from Rs 65,000 to Rs 85,000.
For MLAs, the monthly salary and allowances were to rise from Rs 1.30 lakh to Rs 1.65 lakh, an increase of Rs 35,000 a month. The revised structure was MLA salary is Rs 60,000 to Rs 80,000, Constituency Allowance: Rs 60,000 to Rs 70,000, and Medical allowance: Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000. |