Jammu and Kashmir, on the 31st of October, was officially bifurcated into two union territories (UTs.) The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act came into effect from midnight.
Previously a State, Jammu and Kashmir is now divided into two UTs, one being Jammu and Kashmir and the other, Ladakh.
On the 5th of August, the Government of India (GoI) took the key decision of scrapping Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and introduced the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.
On the 30th of October, the Home Ministry Department of India issued a notification which stated the Home Ministry of India replaced the state of Jammu and Kashmir with two UTs. The notification reads, “… there are references in the state laws that have been applied to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, and the Union Territory of Ladakh to the expressions ‘permanent residents’ or ‘hereditary state subjects’…, wherever they occur, shall be omitted.”
The GoI decided to implement the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act on the 31st of October as the day marks the 144th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
Now, after the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into 2 UTs, the total number of states in India once again came down to 28, whereas the number of UTs increased to 9.
Although Jammu and Kashmir is a union territory, its legislature would be similar to Puducherry and it would conduct legislative elections.
After the bifurcation, the President’s rule, which was imposed in the State of Jammu and Kashmir in 2018, was also revoked. The President’s Office issued a notification which read, “In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (2) of article 356 of the Constitution, I, Ram Nath Kovind, President of India, hereby revoke the proclamation issued by me under the said article on the 19th December, 2018 in relation to the State of Jammu and Kashmir.”
Girish Chandra Murmu, the Union Expenditure Secretary, would be the first Lieutenant Governor of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir. On the other hand, Radha Krishna Mathur, the former Defence Secretary of India, would be the first Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh. Ms. Mathur, on the 31st of October, took the oath of office as the Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his happiness about fulfilling the dream of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. He addressed the public after the bifurcation and said, “I would tell Sardar saab that the dream you had, that wall has been broken and your dream was fulfilled. Sardar Patel had once said that if the issue of Kashmir had remained with him, it would not have taken so long to resolve it. On his birth anniversary today, I dedicate the decision to remove Article 370, to Sardar Saheb.” He further added, “Article 370 had divided Jammu and Kashmir and was the gateway to terrorism. In the whole Country, J&K was the only place where this was effective. And in the whole Country, Jammu and Kashmir was the only place where terrorists had taken the lives of over 40,000 people.”
After the bifurcation, the Election Commission of India would carry out a delimitation process.
The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir would have 114 legislative seats and would soon conduct its first legislative elections.
Stay tuned for further updates.
