The Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly budget session, which ended on Wednesday, witnessed fiery debates with many Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) raising burning public issues and contributing to legislative debates.
The 21-day session, the second longest in India in 2025, began on March 3 with Lt Governor Manoj Sinha’s address and ended on Wednesday with 1355 questions received, 154 main questions discussed, and 353 supplementaries replied to.
A total of 1738 Cut Motions were received and 1731 were taken up for debate.
In the budget session, three government bills were received and later passed by the House whereas 33 Private Members’ Bills were also received and scheduled for the business.
The Assembly Secretariat received 78 Calling Attention Motions of which 23 were scheduled for the business and 34 rejected.
Additionally, 109 resolutions were received in the session of which 85 were accepted and 14 scheduled for business.
A total of 39 hours were spent in the session.
The budget session witnessed Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, People’s Democratic Party’s Waheed Para, People’s Conference’s Sajad Gani Lone, and Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma performing strongly while the first-time MLAs like Mehraj Malik and Irfan Hafiz Lone giving hints as to how grass root politics could be played.
Though expectations of the public are high with calls for deliverables other than debates, going by their role, and the pertinence of public issues raised by them, here is a rating of some legislators who stole the show during the J&K Budget Session.
Omar Abdullah (Chief Minister, National Conference)
Rating: 8/10
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah tabled the first budget of J&K in the Legislative Assembly after seven years.
He launched the proposal of free public transport for women and 200 units of free electricity for Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) families.
CM Omar focused on tying the budget to people’s aspirations and sought opinions from MLAs and District Development Council (DDC) chairmen to acquire local concerns.
He also dominated debates, especially on governance and security.
The NC leader also criticised the response to unemployment and delay in infrastructure by the previous administration.
Sunil Sharma (Leader of Opposition, Bharatiya Janata Party)
Rating: 6/10
BJP’s most prominent face in Jammu and Leader of Opposition (LoP), Sunil Sharma, emphasised regional balance and security along the International Border (IB), Line of Control (LoC), and the hinterlands.
Although he brought up the issues faced by the people of Jammu region, he was criticised for mostly following the party line instead of effectively addressing grassroots issues.
The BJP legislator argued that the budget betrayed public trust and neglected people’s aspirations.
Referring to the budget, he emphasised a feeling of helplessness and dependence, urging a bolder developmental role.
Waheed-u-Rehman Para (People’s Democratic Party)
Rating: 8.5/10
The best performer of the J&K Budget session was Waheed-ur-Rehman Para who spoke about youth-focused issues such as job schemes and health policy.
His facts-based arguments compelled the government to react, making him a rising leader.
Para criticised the budget for being over-dependent on centrally sponsored schemes, contending that it did not have measures addressing the particular needs and concerns of J&K’s people.
Tanvir Sadiq (National Conference)
Rating: 7.5/10
Tanvir Sadiq was an assertive voice, raising issues of local concern such as power outages, healthcare shortages, and the reduction of advertisements on popular media.
His well-structured arguments, just like his legislator father late Sadiq Ali, received accolades as he pressed more firmly for result-oriented outcomes.
Sadiq backed the government’s efforts and participated in debates according to party policies.
Sajad Lone (Peoples Conference)
Rating: 7/10
Sajad Lone targeted administrative inefficiency and development stagnation in north Kashmir.
His criticisms were stinging but spasmodic, diluting the impact he could have made in the J&K budget session.
He was disappointed with the budget, terming it as a duplication of central schemes without localisation.
Lone also pointed out a wide disconnect between political words and economic numbers, doubting the genuineness of the numbers put up.
Irfan Hafiz Lone (Congress)
Rating: 7/10
Irfan Hafiz Lone pointed to rural distress, particularly farmer distress and road connectivity in north Kashmir.
His fiery speeches evoked response, but pressure through follow-up was lacking.
Speaking for Congress, Lone voted in favour of the budget, terming it a true representation of people’s aspirations.
Mehraj Malik (Aam Aadmi Party)
Rating: 6/10
Mehraj Malik, a debutant MLA, flagged anti-corruption and transparency issues but failed to make an impactful impression on debates dominated by the mainstream parties.
As an AAP member, Malik brought attention to issues relevant to his constituency, focusing on public welfare.
However, most critics felt that he was trying to remain in the headlines by indulging in controversies akin to Member of Parliament Engineer Rashid of the Awami Ittehad Party when he was a legislator.
(This assessment only reflects on the participation of the MLAs in the J&K budget session concerning their initiatives to deal with people’s issues and input towards legislative processes.)
