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Curse of nominations

Kashmir Times. Dated: 9/9/2013 10:53:45 PM

It’s subversion of democracy, political immorality and corruption

The affairs relating to the Kargil Hill Development Council, with the alliance partners engaged in a war of attrition over the arbitrary nomination of four members to the council by the chief minister not only exposes the uneasy and opportunistic nature of the coalition but also political immorality and constitutional impropriety. In the elections to the Council, which was hitherto controlled by the National Conference, the Congress managed to secure 12 seats as against 8 won by the NC, which had a tally of 18 in the last elections, in a house of 30 including four nominated members. With no single party securing majority on its own a kind of horse trading started to woo the six independent members.. In this race the Congress managed to secure absolute majority by wooing three independent members to its side. In an obvious bid to prevent the Congress to control the Council the Chief Minister arbitrarily nominated four National Conference workers to the Council thus upsetting the Congress applecart. While crying foul the PCC leadership, as usual, beseeched the party high command to come to its rescue by asking the CM to revoke the nominations.
Apart from the question of the functioning of the coalition with the two partners pulling in different directions on most of the issues of importance, it also raises the issues of arbitrariness political corruption and immorality. The manner in which Omar Abdullah rushed with the nomination of his party men as a matter of political expediency also brings into focus the curse of nominations made by the chief minister or his government, misusing their discretionary powers by resorting to worse kind of political opportunism by nominating persons for various constitutional or other governmental institutions. Such nominations made to provide lucrative jobs to the activists of the ruling party or alliance or other favourites in most arbitrary manner and without adhering to any norms not only amount to political corruption but also result in eroding the very basis of democracy. Take the case of the nominations made for the upper house of the bicameral State legislature. The Constitution originally provided for a 36 member House with eleven members each elected from Kashmir and Jammu provinces by the MLAs, two to be elected by the registered teachers of the State, four to be elected by the panchaytas in the State, two others by the urban local bodies while six other members were to be nominated by the government from among the persons having special knowledge or practical experience in the fields of literature, science, art and social services. Subsequently the teachers seats were abolished and the number of nominated members raised to eight – nearly 25 per cent strength of the House. In total violation of these norms those nominated to the Legislative Council happen to be the activists of the ruling establishment, their family members including those having been rejected by the electorate in the elections to the assembly or political turncoats. Similarly two seats to provide nominations to women in the Legislative Assembly are shared by the alliance partners. This is a clear case of worst kind of political opportunism and corruption as well as constitutional impropriety.
The curse of nominations goes far beyond the legislature as those nominated to various other government bodies are invariably the activists and supporters of the ruling establishment. A number of institutions have been created simply to provide lucrative jobs to the political activists, loyalists as well as disgruntled elements, political tuincoats including those who are either denied party tickets for elections or have been defeated in the polls for elected bodies. Omar Abdullah has been loudest in talking against the bane of political immorality, corruptions and high-handedness. But what has been his own conduct, and that of his government, in this regard?