Srinagar : A controversy has erupted over the constitution of House committees in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, with the BJP accusing the Speaker of favouritism in allocating committee chairmanships to members of the ruling National Conference (NC)-led alliance.
The controversy surfaced two days after Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather constituted multiple House committees for the year 2026–27.
Senior BJP leader and Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma alleged that the Speaker’s decision to allocate chairmanship of eight out of nine House committees to MLAs of the ruling alliance amounted to an attempt to turn the Assembly into the National Conference’s headquarters at Nawai Subah.
In a statement, Sharma said the Assembly belongs to the people of Jammu and Kashmir and that the BJP would resist any move to convert it into the “fiefdom” of any political party.
“The decision to appoint eight MLAs from the ruling alliance as heads of committees is totally unjustified and an insult to the mandate of the people of J&K,” he said, alleging that the universally accepted principle of proportional representation had been ignored.
He said that while the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the J&K Legislative Assembly empower the Speaker to nominate committee chairpersons, such discretion should be exercised fairly.
“The first-time MLAs from the ruling party have been appointed as heads of different committees, while senior legislators from the opposition have been ignored,” Sharma alleged.
He pointed out that while the ruling alliance, with 54 MLAs, had been allotted chairmanship of eight committees, the BJP, with 29 MLAs, had been given charge of only one committee.
“Out of the eight committees allotted to the ruling alliance, five will be headed by National Conference MLAs, though the party has 41 legislators,” he said, adding that the move reflected a “sinister design” to turn the Assembly into the ruling party’s headquarters.
The J&K Assembly Secretariat on May 12 issued notifications constituting several key House committees for the year 2026–27, with the Speaker nominating members to various financial and other panels.
