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 Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered ...

. 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 had a bicameral legislature with a legislative assembly (lower house) and a legislative council (upper house). The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, passed by the

Parliament of India The Parliament of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of ...

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, 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, a ...

Hari Singh 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 Muslim Conference may refer to: *All India Azad Muslim Conference, a coalition of political parties in British India *All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference The All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference ( ur, آل جموں و کشمیر مسلم ...

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 and opened its membership to people of all religions. It launched a Quit Kashmir 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 Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, subject to ...

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 opera ...

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 gr ...

legislature consisting of an upper house, the

Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Council The Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Council (also known as the ''Jammu and Kashmir Vidhan Parishad'') was the upper house of the legislature of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, India. History The first Legislature was established by the ...

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 was passed to reconstitute the state of

into union territories of

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 a ...

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 multi ...

Legislative Assembly. The

was formally abolished on 16 October 2019. In March 2020, a three-member Delimitation Commission was formed, chaired by retired Justice

Ranjana Prakash Desai Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai (born 30 October 1949) is a former judge of the Supreme Court of India, and the current head of the Delimitation Commission of India. She was previously a public prosecutor for the State of Maharashtra, and served as ...

, 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 (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 had 37 seats, and

region had 4 seats. Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act was passed to reconstitute the state of

into union territories of

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. Mos ...

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 Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

. 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 thei ...

method. The assembly may be dissolved before the completion of the full term by the Lieutenant Governor upon the advice of the Chief Minister. 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: ''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 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 ...

using a car bomb and three suicide bombers.

References

External links

Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections 2014
mapsofindia.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Jammu And Kashmir Legislative Assembly Politics of Jammu and Kashmir