J&K’s Legislative Council fades into history - Greater Kashmir

Srinagar, Oct 31: It will be after 67 years that the Legislative Council or the upper house will not exist at all when a session of Jammu and Kashmir assembly session begins.

The assembly session is scheduled to start on November 4. The legislative council was established in 1957 and abolished in 2019 with the changes made through the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act.

National Conference (NC) is strongly advocating the re-establishment of the legislative council and is in support of the J&K legislature being bicameral like the past. So are some other political parties making such a demand.

The upper house had produced several brilliant legislators. Some important ministers have remained members of that house from time to time. Prominent people from different fields of life for their distinguished services would also get nominated to the upper house. The council was also helping the ruling parties and major opposition parties to accommodate their leaders in the house who for various reasons were not getting a mandate for assembly polls.

While on political and media levels, the focus was to be kept on the legislative assembly proceedings but the legislative council also used to get due importance and coverage. Sometimes the significant developments in the upper house used to overshadow the happenings in assembly.

Immediately after the question hour in assembly, the attention would shift towards the question hour in the council. The ministers would rush from the lower house to the upper house to reply to the questions raised by the  MLCs. Media persons too in good strength were covering the question-reply session and trying to get the hard copies of the related file. The file was like a goldmine of confirmed information and details for their day’s news stories. Ever later the journalists would do further investigation in the details provided in the file for their news stories for weeks and months ahead. Now such question and reply files will be available in assembly only.

Interesting debates and discussions on important issues in the upper house would also catch the eye of political circles and media. Almost all chief ministers have given due importance to the proceedings in the upper house during their respective terms. Their major statements would make big news. During his tenure, Farooq Abdullah, known for his news-making statements and style, also used to make a difference in the house. Being well-informed and updated on local, national and international issues, he would speak on any issue in his style whenever the need arose.

It is to be seen now whether Jammu and Kashmir will get back the Legislative Council when the statehood is restored. There are some states in the country that only have legislative assemblies and not legislative councils.