Early Times Report
Jammu, Nov 5: Amid conflicting reports about the allocation of the Deputy Speaker’s post to the principal opposition party, the BJP on Tuesday officially confirmed that the ruling party has yet to offer this post to the party.
A day after his appointment as Leader of the Opposition, the BJP MLA from Paddar-Nagsani Sunil Sharma said that the ruling party has not given any hint to continue with the tradition of allocating the Deputy Speaker’s post of the principal opposition party. Quoting the Leader of the Opposition, a Kashmir-based news agency reported that there has been no official communication from the National Conference (NC) regarding the Deputy Speaker position for the BJP. The BJP leader said that it was customary to allocate Deputy Speaker’s post of the principal opposition party but no steps have been taken so far in this direction.
As reported earlier by this newspaper, despite electing veteran politician Abdul Rahim Rat The BJP has officially confirmed that the ruling party is yet to offer the Deputy Speaker's post to the party.
There has been no official communication from the NC to offer the Deputy Speaker position for the BJP.
The NC is unlikely to give the Deputy Speaker's post to the BJP. It's likely to prefer Congress MLA or one of its own leaders.
Historically, the Deputy Speaker's post has been offered to principal opposition parties in Jammu and Kashmir.
The NC is unlikely to give the Deputy Speaker’s post to the BJP, preferring instead to appoint a Congress MLA or one of its own leaders. This decision stems from concerns that awarding the post to the BJP would send the wrong message in the Kashmir Valley, potentially fueling rival groups like the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to expose a perceived “nexus” between the NC and BJP.
Historically, the Deputy Speaker’s post has been offered to principal opposition parties in Jammu and Kashmir. For example, Mohammad Sartaj Madni of the PDP served as Deputy Speaker during the NC-Congress regime from 2008 to 2014, while Nazir Gurezi of the NC held the position during the PDP-BJP regime from 2015 to 2018. | 