The seven-day autumn session of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly began on September 21 with BJP members storming the Well over public issues and members of the ruling alliance raising slogans for the restoration of statehood, while Chief Minister Omar Abdullah called for a constructive debate.

An opening day with two simultaneous protests shows how each side wants the session framed. The opposition wants it to be about the government’s record on employment, reservation, electricity and governance. The government wants it to be about the Centre’s pending promise on statehood.

Neither framing is accidental. A session is a limited number of days, and the agenda that dominates the first day often shapes how much attention the other issues receive.

The chief minister’s call for a constructive debate is a familiar counter to disruption, since a House that is adjourned repeatedly cannot debate anything, including the issues each side says it cares about.

The measure of the session will be whether the specific questions, on jobs, power supply and reservation, are actually taken up and answered over the seven days, or whether the opening day’s pattern repeats.

The session is expected to take up issues ranging from employment and reservation to development, electricity, governance and public welfare.

The demand for the restoration of statehood is expected to be one of the central themes of the session.

Jammu and Kashmir has been a Union Territory with a legislature since the reorganisation of the erstwhile state in 2019.

The treasury benches pointed to the Centre’s pending promise of restoring statehood while raising slogans in the House.

The session is being held for seven days, giving the government and the opposition a platform to debate the issues.

Private members’ resolutions are among the business that the Assembly typically takes up during its sessions.

Disruptions on the opening day often lead to adjournments, and the business of the House can be affected until order is restored.

Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly building, Srinagar (representative image), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0