The Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly also known as the Jammu and Kashmir Vidhan Sabha is the legislature of Indian union territory of
Jammu and Kashmir.
The Legislative Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir was dissolved by the Governor on 21 November 2018.
Prior to 2019, the
State of Jammu and Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir was a region formerly administered by India as a state from 1952 to 2019, constituting the southern and southeastern portion of the larger Kashmir region, which has been the subject of a dispute between India, Pakistan and ...
had a bicameral legislature with a legislative assembly (lower house) and a legislative council (upper house). The
Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act
The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 is an act of the parliament of India containing provisions to reconstitute the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Indian-administered union territories (UTs) called Jammu and ...
, passed by the
Parliament of India
The Parliament of India (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameralism, bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the R ...
in August 2019, replaced this with a unicameral legislature while also re-organising the state into a
union territory.
History
Praja Sabha
The first legislature of the
princely state of Jammu and Kashmir
Jammu and Kashmir, officially known as the Princely State of Kashmir and Jammu, was a princely state during the Company rule in India from 1757 to 1858 as well as the British Raj in India from 1846 to 1952. The princely state was created afte ...
, called the ''Praja Sabha'', was established by the government of the
Maharaja
Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king".
A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, an ...
Hari Singh
Maharaja Sir Hari Singh (September 1895 – 26 April 1961) was the last ruling Maharaja of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir (princely state), Jammu and Kashmir.
Hari Singh was the son of Amar Singh and Bhotiali Chib. In 1923, followi ...
in 1934.
It had 33 elected seats, 30 nominated members and 12 ''ex-officio'' members.
The
first election in 1934 saw the Liberal Group headed by Pandit Ram Chander Dubey emerge as the largest party and the
Muslim Conference as the second largest (with 14 seats). Further elections were held in 1938 and 1947.
In 1939, the Muslim Conference party renamed itself to
National Conference under the leadership of
Sheikh Abdullah
Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah (5 December 1905 – 8 September 1982) was an Indian politician who played a central role in the politics of Jammu and Kashmir Abdullah was the founding leader of the All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference (later re ...
and opened its membership to people of all religions. It launched a
Quit Kashmir
The Jammu & Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) is a regional political party in the Indian union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Founded as the ''All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference'' by Sheikh Abdullah and Chaudhry Ghulam A ...
movement in 1946 and boycotted the 1947 election.
Post-accession
After the accession of the
princely state
A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Raj, British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, ...
of
Jammu and Kashmir to the Union of India in 1947, the Maharaja ceded powers to a popular government headed by Sheikh Abdullah.
Elections
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...
for a
constituent assembly
A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...
were held in 1951, in which Abdullah's National Conference won all 75 seats.
In 1957, a new constitution was adopted by the constituent assembly, which established a
bicameral
Bicameralism is a type of legislature, one divided into two separate assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate and vote as a single grou ...
legislature consisting of an upper house, the
Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Council and a lower house, the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly.
Revocation of Article 370 and reorganisation of state
In 2019,
Article 370 of the Constitution of India, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, was
abrogated and
Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act
The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 is an act of the parliament of India containing provisions to reconstitute the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Indian-administered union territories (UTs) called Jammu and ...
was passed to reconstitute the state of
Jammu and Kashmir into union territories of
Jammu and Kashmir and
Ladakh
Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory which constitutes a part of the larger Kashmir region and has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. (subscription required) Quote: "Jammu and ...
with effect from 31 October 2019.
The union territory of Jammu and Kashmir has a
unicameral
Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one.
Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multic ...
Legislative Assembly. The
Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Council was formally abolished on 16 October 2019.
In March 2020, a three-member Delimitation Commission was formed, chaired by retired Justice
Ranjana Prakash Desai, for the delimitation of the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
The commission published its interim report in February 2022.
The final delimitation report was released on 5 May 2022 and it came into force from 20 May 2022.
Composition
The Legislative Assembly was initially composed of 100 members, later increased to 111 by the then
Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir
The Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir was the legal Constitution which established the framework for the state government of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. The constitution was adopted on 17 November 1956, and came into effect on 26 J ...
(Twentieth Amendment) Act of 1988.
Of these, 24 seats were designated for the territorial constituencies of the state that came under Pakistani control in 1947.
These seats remained officially vacant as per section 48 of the then state constitution and now also in The Constitution of India.
These seats were not taken into account for reckoning the total membership of the assembly, especially for deciding
quorum
A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly (a body that uses parliamentary procedure, such as a legislature) necessary to conduct the business of that group. According to ''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'', the ...
and voting majorities for legislation and government formation.
Hence the total contestable and filled seats of the assembly were 87 seats. The
Kashmir valley
The Kashmir Valley, also known as the ''Vale of Kashmir'', is an intermontane valley concentrated in the Kashmir Division of the Indian- union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The valley is bounded on the southwest by the Pir Panjal Range and ...
region had 46 seats, the
Jammu region
The Jammu division (; ) is a revenue and administrative division within Jammu and Kashmir, a union territory of India. It consists of the districts of Jammu, Doda, Kathua, Ramban, Reasi, Kishtwar, Poonch, Rajouri, Udhampur and Samba. Most of ...
had 37 seats, and
Ladakh
Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory which constitutes a part of the larger Kashmir region and has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. (subscription required) Quote: "Jammu and ...
region had 4 seats.
Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act
The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 is an act of the parliament of India containing provisions to reconstitute the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Indian-administered union territories (UTs) called Jammu and ...
was passed to reconstitute the state of
Jammu and Kashmir into union territories of
Jammu and Kashmir and
Ladakh
Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory which constitutes a part of the larger Kashmir region and has been the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947. (subscription required) Quote: "Jammu and ...
.
In March 2020, Delimitation Commission was formed for the delimitation of the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir prior to the
next Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election
Legislative Assembly elections are speculated be held in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, India in 2023 to elect 90 members of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly. The legislative assembly has been dissolved since November 2018 ...
.
The delimitation report added additional 6 seats to the
Jammu division
The Jammu division (; ) is a revenue and administrative division within Jammu and Kashmir, a union territory of India. It consists of the districts of Jammu, Doda, Kathua, Ramban, Reasi, Kishtwar, Poonch, Rajouri, Udhampur and Samba. Most o ...
and 1 seat to
Kashmir division
The Kashmir division is a revenue and administrative division constituting of the Kashmir Valley of the Indian-administered union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It borders Jammu Division to the south and the union territory of Ladakh to the e ...
. After delimitation, the total seats in the assembly rose to 114 seats, out of which 24 seats are designated for areas that fall under
Pakistan occupied Kashmir. Out of the remaining 90 seats, 43 seats are in Jammu division and 47 seats are in the Kashmir division.
Tenure and functions
Members of the Legislative Assembly were elected for a six-year term up to 2019 and five-year term thereafter. The seats are filled by
direct election
Direct election is a system of choosing political officeholders in which the voters directly cast ballots for the persons or political party that they desire to see elected. The method by which the winner or winners of a direct election are cho ...
from single member constituencies using the
first past the post
In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...
method. The assembly may be dissolved before the completion of the full term by the Lieutenant Governor upon the advice of the
Chief Minister
A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...
. The Lieutenant Governor may also convene
special session
In a legislature, a special session (also extraordinary session) is a period when the body convenes outside of the normal legislative session. This most frequently occurs in order to complete unfinished tasks for the year (often delayed by confli ...
s of the legislative assembly.
Membership by party
The assembly is currently dissolved.
Office bearers
Source:
*Speaker: ''Vacant''
*
Chief Minister
A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...
: ''Vacant''
*Leader of Opposition : ''Vacant''
*Secretary: Manoj Kumar Pandit
Members of Legislative Assembly
The assembly is currently dissolved.
Attack on the State Assembly Complex
On 1 October 2001, armed terrorists belonging to Pakistan-based
Jaish-e-Mohammed
Jaish-e-Mohammed ( ur, , literally "The Army of Muhammad", abbreviated as JeM) is a Pakistan-based: "The JEM is a Pakistan-based, militant Islamic group founded by Maulana Masood Azhar in March 2000."
Deobandi: "Deobandis like Masood Azha ...
terrorist group carried out an attack on the Jammu and Kashmir State Legislative Assembly Complex in
Srinagar
Srinagar (English: , ) is the largest city and the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It lies in the Kashmir Valley on the banks of the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus, and Dal and Anchar lakes. The city is known for its natu ...
using a car bomb and three suicide bombers.
See also
*
Elections in Jammu and Kashmir
Elections in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir are conducted in accordance with the Constitution of India to elect the representatives of various bodies at national, state and district levels including the 114 seat (90 seats + 24 seats res ...
*
*
List of chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir
*
List of deputy chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir
The Deputy Chief Minister of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir was a position that existed within the cabinet of Jammu and Kashmir (state), Jammu and Kashmir, an Indian state between 1954 and 2019. The state was reconstituted by the governmen ...
References
External links
Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections 2014 mapsofindia.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jammu And Kashmir Legislative Assembly
Politics of Jammu and Kashmir