Incoming J&K govt will be ‘toothless tiger’, CM a ‘rubber stamp’: Iltija Mufti

Srinagar, Oct 5 (PTI) PDP leader Iltija Mufti on Saturday said the incoming government in Jammu and Kashmir will be a “toothless tiger”, while its chief minister will be a “rubber stamp” and “glorified mayor” of a “municipality”.

J&K is all set to get a new government after the results of the Assembly elections held after a gap of 10 years are announced on October 8.

“With the LG ‘nominating’ five MLAs and the chief secretary changing transaction of business rules, it’s clear that the incoming government will be a toothless tiger.

“How much more will the Government of India strip J&K of any semblance of authority and autonomy? Rubber stamp CM = Glorified mayor of a municipality (sic),” Iltija said in a post on X.

Daughter of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti, Iltija contested the assembly polls from Bijbehara in Anantnag district.

The J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019, specifies that the Lieutenant Governor of the “successor Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir may nominate two members to the Legislative Assembly” to give representation to women “if in his opinion, women are not adequately represented in the Legislative Assembly.”

However, in an amendment to the Act in July 2023, an addition was made to allow for the nomination of three more members to the Assembly — two from the Kashmiri migrant community, including a woman, and one from the ‘displaced persons from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir’.

Iltija’s remark on the chief secretary came after National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah on Friday claimed that he has received information from the secretariat about the LG administration’s move.

“The BJP has clearly accepted defeat in J-K. Why else would the chief secretary be assigned the duty to change transaction of business rules of the government to curtail the powers of the chief minister/elected government and assign the same to the LG?” Omar said in a post on X on Friday.

“Officers would be well advised to resist any pressure to further disempower the incoming elected government,” he said.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah dismissed Abdullah’s claim as “misleading and speculative”.

“There is not even an iota of truth, as there is absolutely no such proposal,” he said on X on Friday.

The three-phase Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir concluded on October 1, with a voter turnout of 63.88 per cent. The results will be out on October 8.