Tarigami Says Empowering Unelected LG to Nominate Assembly Members Undermines Democracy

SRINAGAR: CPI(M) leader and MLA Kulgam M Y Tarigami on Monday criticised the Union Home Ministry’s decision to authorise the Lieutenant Governor (LG) of Jammu and Kashmir to nominate five members to the Legislative Assembly, saying the move strikes at the root of the electoral democratic process in the region.

“This is yet another step in eroding democratic norms,” Tarigami said in a statement. “The LG himself is an unelected nominee of the government, and giving him the authority to nominate members to the Assembly runs contrary to the very spirit of representative democracy.”

The veteran Left leader recalled earlier measures, including the delimitation exercise, which he said had been carried out in a way that amounted to gerrymandering. “No established norms were followed during delimitation. Kashmir, despite having a larger population, was given only one additional seat, while the other region got six seats. This arbitrary process compromised the fairness of our electoral system,” he said.

Tarigami said the delimitation process ignored population considerations and was marked by arbitrariness. “No criteria were followed, and no norms were adhered to. It was clearly designed to tilt the balance in a particular direction,” he said.

He added that the new provision allowing an unelected LG to nominate members further deepens the damage. “Nomination itself is contrary to the principle of an electoral democratic process, and in the present context, it openly indicates designs to weaken democratic representation in Jammu and Kashmir,” Tarigami said.