Ahead of Autumn Session, Allies & Opposition Sharpen Positions in J&K Assembly

SRINAGAR: Ahead of the week‑long autumn session of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly beginning in Srinagar on Monday, political currents within both the ruling alliance and the opposition have begun to surface.

The Congress, which fought the 2024 Assembly elections jointly with the National Conference (NC), has signalled that its legislative conduct will remain independent and people‑centric despite being part of the ruling coalition. Senior leaders within the Congress in J&K remain divided on whether the party should formally join the Omar Abdullah government, and the matter has now been referred to the party high command for a final decision.

JKPCC president Tariq Hameed Karra, after chairing a meeting of Congress legislators, here on Sunday said the party would continue to raise “genuine public concerns” inside the House. He emphasised that alliance politics would not dilute the Congress’s responsibility to speak for the people. Karra noted that the Assembly exists to question, scrutinise and expedite governance, and that this duty applies equally to members of the ruling coalition and the opposition.

He described the Congress–NC alliance as a “principled stand” taken with a larger political picture in mind, but insisted that the partnership does not prevent the Congress from flagging issues such as Vande Mataram or UPI where the two parties recently differed. “Being in an alliance does not mean we will not talk about people’s legitimate demands,” he said, adding that the Congress legislature party meeting was convened specifically to prepare for the upcoming session.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), meanwhile, is preparing to mount a vigorous opposition. Leader of the Opposition and BJP MLA Sunil Sharma said the party would use the autumn session to highlight “issues of urgent public importance” that the government has failed to address. Sharma said the BJP would raise matters related to development delays, governance gaps, and concerns flagged by citizens across districts. He stressed that the Assembly must function as a forum where the government is held accountable and where opposition voices are heard without obstruction. According to Sharma, the BJP intends to push for debates on employment, infrastructure, and transparency in administrative decisions.

J&K BJP president and Rajya Sabha MP Sat Sharma said on Sunday that the party would use the upcoming Assembly session to scrutinise the performance of the NC‑led government over the past two years and press for a white paper detailing the work carried out during its tenure.

On the ruling side, the NC held its Legislature Party meeting here on Sunday to finalise its strategy for the session. Party leaders discussed legislative priorities, coordination with Congress lawmakers, and the government’s approach to anticipated opposition attacks. The NC leadership reportedly instructed its MLAs to remain united, defend the government’s performance, and ensure that key bills and policy measures are passed smoothly during the week‑long sitting.

Alongside political sparring, the Assembly has a structured legislative agenda. Seven private members’ bills are slated to be introduced during the session. In addition to these bills, the House will take up government business including the presentation of the Annual Financial Review, discussion on supplementary grants, and consideration of two government bills related to administrative reforms and service delivery. The session will also feature short‑duration discussions, calling attention notices, and question hour, where legislators are expected to raise issues ranging from power supply and water scarcity to tourism infrastructure and the status of ongoing development works.

With alliance dynamics still unsettled, an assertive opposition, and a packed legislative agenda, the autumn session is expected to be politically charged and substantively significant.