NC's Abdul Rahim Rather likely to become Jammu and Kashmir Assembly speaker

Srinagar: Veteran National Conference leader and seven-time MLA from Charar-e-Sharief Abdul Rahim Rather is likely to become the first speaker of the legislative assembly of the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, which is scheduled to meet for a five-day session on Monday.

According to the provisional calendar for the session issued by the Assembly Secretariat, the House will elect the speaker in the first sitting on Monday.

Sources in the National Conference (NC) said the 80-year-old Rather is most likely to be the party's candidate for the post of speaker.

"We are comfortably placed as the treasury benches have the numbers. As of now, Rather sahib is all set to be the speaker of the legislative assembly," a senior NC leader said on the condition of anonymity.

Rather had earlier held the post of the speaker in the legislative assembly of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. He was also the leader of the opposition from 2002 to 2008 when the PDP-Congress coalition government ruled the state.

During a meeting of its legislature party held earlier on Sunday, the BJP nominated Narinder Singh Raina as its candidate for the post of deputy speaker.

While the BJP has not named a candidate for the speaker's post, it was not clear if the government and the opposition have reached an informal understanding on these key posts in the assembly.

The House will meet after a gap of more than six years on Monday, with the last session held in early 2018, a year before the reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories.

Stringent security measures have been put in place for the assembly session.

According to the calendar for sittings of the House, the speaker's election on Monday will be followed by the lieutenant governor's (LG) address.

Obituary references will be made on November 5 and discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the LG's address will be taken up on November 6 and 7, it showed.

The reply to the discussion on the Motion of Thanks will be taken up on November 8, an official spokesperson said.