Centre nominates five members to J-K Assembly after polls, PDP calls it blatant subversion of democracy

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti criticized the Centre's decision to nominate five members to the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly after elections, calling it a blatant subversion of democratic principles and urging the elected government to challenge this undemocratic move

Srinagar: PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Monday said the Centre nominating five members to the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly after holding elections is a “blatant subversion of democratic principles”.

She was responding to a report in the English daily ‘The Hindu’, which said that the Ministry of Home Affairs has informed the Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court that the lieutenant governor can nominate five MLAs to the Legislative Assembly without the aid and advice of the elected government.

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“GOI’s decision to nominate 5 MLAs in J&K after holding elections is a blatant subversion of democratic principles. Nowhere else in the country does the Centre handpick legislators to override the public mandate. In India’s only Muslim-majority region, long marred by conflict, this move feels less like governance and more like control,” Mufti said in a post on X.

“Following the illegal bifurcation of the state, skewed delimitation and discriminatory seat reservations, this nomination is yet another body blow to the idea of democracy in J&K. Representation must be earned through the people’s vote not granted by central decree,” the former chief minister said.

“This cannot be allowed to become the norm. Hope @OmarAbdullah government rises to the occasion by challenging this undemocratic precedent because silence now would be complicity later,” she added.