Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh become separate Union Territories from today: 10 points

The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir will have a legislature like Puducherry while Ladakh will be a UT without legislature like Chandigarh.

The state of Jammu and Kashmir ceased to exist at midnight Wednesday and was converted into two union territories under the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, 86 days after Parliament abrogated its special status under Article 370.

The Centre will be in direct control of the police and law and order in Jammu and Kashmir from Thursday, October 31, 2019 when it becomes a Union Territory.(HT photo/Waseem Andrabi)

Here are 10 points about Jammu and Kashmir’s conversion into two union territories from one state:

1. India will now have one state less and two union territories more as Presidential proclamation of August 9 giving assent to the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories comes into effect.

2. The total number of states in the country will now be 28, while the total UTs will go up to nine.

3. The UT of Jammu and Kashmir will have a legislature like Puducherry while Ladakh will be a UT without legislature like Chandigarh. Both UTs will be headed by lieutenant governors (LG), under the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.

 Watch | J&K and Ladakh become Union Territories: What it means

4. The UTs of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh will be headed by lieutenant governors G C Murmu and R K Mathur, respectively.

5. Murmu is a former bureaucrat from PM Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat.

6. The swearing-in ceremony will be first held in Leh where Mathur would be administered oath of office. Murmu will take oath in Srinagar.

7. The two LGs will be sworn-in by Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Gita Mittal

8. The Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir and the Ranbir Penal Code will cease to exist from Thursday.

9. The Centre will be in direct control of the police and law and order in Jammu and Kashmir from Thursday when it becomes a UT. Land will be under the purview of the elected government there.

10. The new UTs come into existence on National Unity Day to mark the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel who was India’s first home minister and a freedom fighter.