Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Speaker Abdul Rahim Rather on Thursday rejected the BJP’s demand for his resignation, amid a ruckus over the resolution passed in the House yesterday, seeking restoration of Article 370.
Rather asked the Union Territory’s opposition party to bring a no-confidence motion if they had no faith in him.
“They are asking the Speaker to take back the resolution. The Speaker does not have the powers. Anything passed by the House can only be undone by the House itself. The Speaker has limited power in these issues as he has to preside, count, and give decisions based on the facts in front of him,” he told PTI.
On the BJP’s demand for his resignation, the Speaker stated they should follow the ‘proper procedure’ to remove him.
He said, “If they do not have faith in the Chair, shouting slogans is still not the way. There is a procedure of no-confidence motion. They should bring it. If the House passes it, I will go on my own, whether any member tells me or not. However, they will not do it but keep raising slogans.”
Further, hitting out at the saffron party MLAs for their ‘cheap sloganeering,’ he reminded they were the ruling party at the Centre.
“They should keep that in mind and be better behaved as compared to others,” Rather said.
He also defended the marshalling out of some BJP MLAs from the House during Thursday’s proceedings, saying there were ‘clear instructions’ for the marshals to stop anyone from entering the Well.
An MLA must ‘lead by example’ for people outside the House, the Speaker added.
Article source: hindustantimes.com
