Srinagar: Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Monday criticised the government of India’s decision to nominate five MLAs in the Union Territory after holding elections, calling it a “blatant subversion of democratic principles.”
“Nowhere else in the country does the Centre handpick legislators to override the public mandate. In India’s only Muslim-majority region, long marred by conflict, this move feels less like governance and more like control,” she said in a post on X.
Mufti said the step comes after the “illegal bifurcation of the state, skewed delimitation and discriminatory seat reservations,” terming it “yet another body blow” to democracy in J&K.
“Representation must be earned through the people’s vote, not granted by central decree,” she added, urging the Omar Abdullah-led government to challenge the move.
