Srinagar, Sep 16: Speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly Abdul Raheem Rather on Wednesday hit back at Leader of Opposition (LOP) Sunil Sharma over his criticism of the duration of the upcoming Autumn session, asking him to “check facts before raising fingers”.
Addressing media persons during a meeting convened ahead of the session, Rather said J&K’s record of Assembly sittings was better than the national average.
The Speaker said the 10-day session, comprising seven working days, had been planned in accordance with the business before the House and there was no purpose in extending it unnecessarily.
He said the Autumn session was traditionally shorter and would deal with government business, including legislative work, besides private members’ business.
“It won’t serve any purpose to have a long session. We have to keep it as per the business,” Rather said.
Taking on the Opposition’s criticism of the session’s duration, Rather cited figures from different state legislatures and said J&K had an average of 28 Assembly sittings against a national average of 24.
“Our position is best when we compare our position with other legislatures. J&K is performing better in terms of holding sittings,” he said.
Rather said the Constitution required that the gap between two sessions should not exceed six months and alleged that some legislatures held sittings largely to fulfil this constitutional requirement.
He specifically referred to Assam, governed by the BJP, and said the state had convened a one-day Autumn session.
“Ask the LoP about Assam which is governed by BJP. Sunil Sharma (our LOP) served as the BJP’s election in-charge for the state. He should answer this,” Rather said.
The Speaker also cited figures from Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, and Goa, saying J&K’s Assembly had performed favourably compared to legislatures elsewhere.
He said Gujarat, after its Assembly was adjourned in March, met again in September for three days, while Rajasthan had two sittings, Uttar Pradesh four, Madhya Pradesh five, Punjab six, and Goa five.
“My request to the LOP is to check facts before raising fingers,” Rather said.
The Speaker also referred to the duration of Autumn sessions held under previous governments, saying the J&K Assembly, when the erstwhile state had greater legislative powers, held its 2015 Autumn session from October 3 to 10.
In 2017, he said, the Autumn session lasted four days, from July 4 to 8.
“The present LoP was part of the decision-making process at the time. We are now holding the session for 10 days and opposition (LoP) says we are making a joke of it,” Rather said.
The Speaker said the length of an Assembly session should be determined by the volume of business and not merely extended to increase the number of days.
He also pointed to the expenditure involved in convening the House.
Responding to the observations regarding the duration of the forthcoming session, the Speaker placed comparative data regarding the number of sittings held during Monsoon and Budget sessions in various States and Union Territories, providing a factual perspective on the matter.
He informed that several States/UTs have held fewer sittings during their respective Monsoon sessions, including Uttar Pradesh with four sittings, Delhi with three, Rajasthan with two, Haryana with three, Madhya Pradesh with five, Punjab with six, Gujarat with three, Goa with three, Tamil Nadu with three, Bihar with five, Jharkhand with five and Chhattisgarh with five sittings, whereas the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly is scheduled to conduct seven sittings during the forthcoming Autumn Session, that too being a Union Territory.
The Speaker further informed that the Legislative Assembly of Assam had conducted a one-day session in June 2025 while pointing out that the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly had held 22 sittings during the Budget Session. He stated that it was comparatively higher than the number of sittings conducted by several other legislative assemblies during their corresponding sessions.
The Autumn session of the J&K Legislative Assembly is scheduled to commence on September 21, 2026.
