Srinagar: The Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) has approached the Election Commission of India (ECI) with a complaint against Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah for allegedly violating the model code of conduct (MCC) in view of the upcoming bypolls in the Union Territory. 

The allegation of MCC violation by the BJP’s leader of opposition in J&K assembly Sunil Sharma came after the chief minister told the House on Wednesday (October 29) that his government was mulling to open admissions for the upcoming National Law University (NLU) in J&K from next year.

Speaking in the assembly, Abdullah said that a temporary campus could be opened in Budgam’s Ompora locality to make the NLU functional. The chief minister said that he had told the concerned officials that the admissions should start from the next academic session.

“A software technology park was coming up in Ompora which could be used as a temporary campus for the university. Proper campuses take a lot of time. It is possible that we will use this campus for law university. A permanent campus can be set up later,” Abdullah said, amid thumping of benches by the ruling party lawmakers. 

The bi-election for Budgam and Nagrota assembly constituencies is scheduled to be held on November 4 while the MCC came into effect on October 8 when the ECI announced the polling schedule.

After winning from two assembly constituencies in the 2024 assembly election, Abdullah vacated Budgam while retaining his party National Conference’s (NC's) traditional Ganderbal. Both the constituencies fall in central Kashmir. 

The Nagrota constituency in Jammu region fell vacant after the demise of BJP leader Devinder Singh Rana in office.

Senior BJP leader Sharma alleged that the chief minister had violated the model code by announcing a new project for Budgam in view of the upcoming polls in the constituency while underlining that the saffron party was going to file a complaint with the ECI against Abdullah. 

“On the floor of the House, Omar Abdullah sahib gave assurance to start the classes of the national law university in Budgam which is against the model code of conduct. There should be immediate action against him. He has shredded the dignity of the Election Commission of India by violating the model code of conduct,” he said.

Sharma added: “If a chief minister can’t respect the model code of conduct and the election commission, what could be expected from the commoners. He should resign on moral grounds.” 

Responding to a question, the BJP leader insisted that Abdullah’s reference to the “temporary campus” in his speech also constituted a violation of model code. 

“Under rules, he can’t do that. A bi-election is going to take place there (in Budgam) which is why we will appeal to the ECI to take action against him,” he said. 

According to reports, the BJP candidate for Budgam by-election, Syed Aga Mohsin has filed a complaint before the chief election commissioner (CEC) on the issue. 

The NC has fielded Syed Aga Mehmood from the constituency while Aga Syed Muntazir is fighting the electoral contest on a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket. 

The Election Commission guidelines on the MCC reproduced by Jammu and Kashmir’s chief electoral officer on its website prohibit the ruling party from making any announcement of “financial grants in any form or promises thereof”.

These guidelines also bar the ruling party leaders from laying foundation stones of new projects or announcing new schemes or making “any promise” till the culmination of the election. 

The Jammu and Kashmir National Law University Bill was passed by J&K assembly in 2018 when the PDP was in power along with the BJP. However, the then governor Satyapal Malik had sought some clarifications on the Bill. 

After the collapse of the Mehbooba Mufti government in 2018 and the reading down of Article 370 the next year which rewrote Jammu and Kashmir’s constitutional relationship with the Union, the Bill was put into deep freeze.

Earlier this year, J&K’s law and higher education departments are believed to have studied the institutional frameworks of law universities in other parts of the country after which a proposal was submitted to the chief minister’s office for identification of land for J&K’s first law university. 

The proposal lists out minimum area and infrastructure required for permanent campus, courses to be taught in the initial stage at the university, its staff and intake capacity. Once a temporary campus is set up, the government will approach the Bar Council of India (BCI) and the University Grants Commission (UGC) for completing academic and other formalities. 

In a veiled dig at the BJP, Abdullah told the assembly that the Union government should leave the choice of the location for the law university to his government. 

“This is not the first law university which is being set up in the country. No state or Union Territory has been dictated where it should be set up. The decision should be better left to the elected government,” he told the House. 

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