Five nominated members of the legislative assembly (MLAs) will play a key role in the government formation in Jammu and Kashmir in case a hung assembly emerges after counting of votes on 8 October. This is for the first time that a provision for nominating five MLAs has been made by virtue of the J&K Reorganisation Act that followed abrogation of Article 370 on 5 August 2019 when the state was split into two union territories (UTs).

Whatever be the outcome of the assembly elections, BJP carries the advantage of these 5 MLAs who will be nominated by the Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha on the advice of the Home Ministry and not the government that comes to power in J-K. These members will enjoy all legislative powers that will be exercised by the elected members. Amidst claims and counter claims being made by the main political parties on government formation, there are speculations that J-K might be heading for a hung assembly after the elections that were held after a gap of ten years.

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With the nomination of these members, the strength of the assembly will increase to 95 thereby pushing the majority threshold to 48 seats to form a government.The Act provides that the Lt. Governor may nominate two members to the Legislative Assembly to give representation to women, if in his opinion, women are not adequately represented in the Assembly. He may also nominate not more than two members, one of whom shall be a woman, from the community of Kashmiri Migrants, to the J- K Assembly. The Act has empowered the LG to nominate one member from displaced persons from Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir to the Assembly.

It is worth mentioning here that the Delimitation Commission, after considering the matter in depth, had recommended for representation of communities of “Kashmiri Migrants” and “Displaced Persons from Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir” in the Legislative Assembly of the Union territory of J-K by way of nomination. The 3-member commission ,headed by retired Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, had added 6 seats to the Jammu division and one to the Kashmir valley. The total seats in the assembly rose to 114 after the delimitation. Out of these, 24 seats are designated for areas of J&K under illegal occupation of

Pakistan. Out of the remaining 90 seats, 43 seats are in the Jammu division and 47 in Kashmir.

Meanwhile, Rajiv Chuni, chairman of the SOS International—the frontline registered organisation spearheading the struggle for the legitimate and genuine rights of displaced persons from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK)—has urged the Lt Governor not to nominate a political party candidate for the single seat reserved in the Legislative Assembly for a community of over 12 lakh refugees.

In a memorandum to him, Chuni said “The reserved seat in J-K Legislative Assembly should not be treated as a political sanctuary for any individual. It must instead serve its intended purpose of genuinely representing the interests of the displaced community”.

Congress’s senior vice president and chief spokesperson, Ravinder Sharma, said that the power to nominate five members to the Legislative Assembly should lie with the new government, otherwise, it would be considered a blatant attempt to defeat the mandate of the people.