Srinagar, Sep 28 — The Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly on Monday passed a resolution demanding the urgent restoration of full statehood to the union territory amid strong protests and walkout by BJP legislators.
The resolution was moved by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and was passed despite opposition from the BJP, the largest opposition party in the Assembly.
Jammu and Kashmir has remained a union territory since Parliament abrogated Article 370 in August 2019 and reorganised the erstwhile state into two UTs -- Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.
The BJP opposed the resolution, questioning the manner in which it was allowed by the Speaker, Abdul Rahim Rather. BJP legislators said the Speaker had permitted the resolution to be taken up in relaxation of the Assembly rules.
As soon as the Assembly proceedings began on Monday, BJP members stood up and protested against the resolution. The opposition party also moved a motion seeking the removal of Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather, alleging that he had allowed the chief minister's resolution in violation of the rules.
Speaker Rather refused to step down, saying he had not read the BJP notice seeking his removal from the speaker.
Rather said under the procedure of the Legislative Assembly, the notice would be listed after 14 days.
The BJP Legislators, led by Leader of Opposition (LoP) Sunil Sharma, entered the well of the House and staged a mock proceeding.
The Speaker ordered the marshals to remove some legislators from the well as CM Omar Abdullah continued his speech seeking the passage of the resolution amid the din created by the BJP legislators.
The House finally passed the resolution in the absence of the opposition BJP, which has 29 MLAs in the 90-member Legislative Assembly.
BJP has taken exception to linking the statehood restoration resolution to past resolutions seeking restoration of Article 370 and the special status for J&K.
The passage of the resolution and its linkage to the controversial Article 370 and the since-abrogated special status of J&K have once again brought the ruling NC into a direct confrontation with the BJP.