SRINAGAR, May 14 : Leader of Opposition Sunil Kumar Sharma on Thursday accused the National Conference of “peddling lies” to justify what he termed as the Speaker’s “unjust and unfair” decisions regarding allocation of committee chairmanships in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.
Responding to National Conference’s claims on proportional representation in committee appointments, Sharma said the ruling party was misrepresenting facts by citing Parliament’s 2024 committee structure while defending the Speaker’s actions in J&K.
He said the National Conference was overlooking the fact that 62.5 per cent of Department-Related Standing Committees in Parliament were allotted to the National Democratic Alliance (15 out of 24), while 37.5 per cent went to opposition parties (9 out of 24).
Sharma argued that if a similar principle of proportional representation were applied in the J&K Assembly, three committee chairmanships should go to the BJP, five to the ruling alliance, and one to independents or another opposition grouping if considered separately.
He further alleged that the Speaker has allotted around 89 per cent of Assembly committee chairmanships to the ruling party and its allies, ignoring the opposition’s representation.
The LoP said established parliamentary conventions should have been followed, citing that in Parliament the Public Accounts Committee is traditionally headed by the opposition, and similar practice exists in J&K as well.
However, he added that opposition parties have been ignored in the appointment of heads of six non-financial committees in the Assembly.
Sharma also pointed out that the Committee on Government Assurances is headed by the opposition in Parliament, underlining what he described as the need to uphold democratic norms and balance in committee representation.
