Jammu, Feb 4: All BJP members staged a walkout from the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly on Wednesday, accusing Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather of showing bias by allotting more time to ruling party legislators.
The protest followed a heated exchange between BJP members and the treasury benches over allegations of divisive politics, including claims that the Mata Vaishno Devi Medical College had disadvantaged students from the majority community.
The BJP legislators specifically raised concerns over the time given to NC legislator Sajad Shaheen during his speech on the Motion of Thanks on the Lt Governor’s address. They alleged that ruling party members received preferential treatment while their own members’ opportunities to speak were curtailed or ignored.
Speaker Rather rejected the allegations, insisting that the House was being conducted in strict accordance with established rules and parliamentary conventions. Despite his attempts to pacify the situation, BJP MLAs chose to leave the Assembly in protest, highlighting ongoing tensions between the opposition and the ruling coalition.