SRINAGR: In first major public sign of discord between Lt Governor Manoj Sharma and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, CM Omar would chair joint legislative party meeting of NC legislators and alliance partners today after Lt Governor Manoj Sinha transferred 48 J&K Administrative (JKAS) officers on Eid.
Sources said CM Omar is not happy over the transfer of 48 JKAS officers by Lt Governor Manoj Sinha. The CM has also written to the Home Ministry expressing his displeasure over the situation.
The transfer of 48 JKAS officers had come while Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was celebrating Eid. Sinha had not taken CM into confidence before ordering the transfers, sources said.
Sources in NC said that Omar government sees these orders as interference by LG in the affairs of governance and an attempt to take full control over bureaucracy.
They said the Lt. Governor is entitled to order transfers of IAS officers and the elected government had no objection to it but transfer of JKAS officers was supposed to be the domain of the elected government in J&K UT.
Unhappy over the transfer orders of middle and lower-rung officers in the Union Territory, CM Omar has written to the Home Ministry, for the centre to take note of it and expressed his displeasure over the transfer of middle and lower rung officers by LG.
Omar has also called a joint legislative party meeting of NC legislators and alliance partners set to be held at the residence of Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary in Srinagar at 11 am today.
It is the first major discord between two power houses of J&K UT – Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, who wields more power, and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who was elected to power in Assembly election last year.
Senior NC leader and MLA Tanvir Sadiq said people have overwhelmingly voted in last year’s Assembly polls in J&K and Prime Minister and Home Minister have lauded people for their participation in polls.
“Now is the time to respect the mandate. This mandate needs to be respected. Nobody has the right to undermine the dignity of the massive public mandate. Omar has called a meeting and you will know the agenda after the meeting,” he said.
Senior Congress leader and Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader in J&K Assembly Ghulam Ahmed Mir criticised LG Sinha's decision to order transfer of middle and lower-rung officers in UT.
He said according to the current business rules, transfer of local JKAS officers is the Chief Minister’s domain.
“The previous rules stipulated that local JKAS officers will be handled by the CM while IAS officers will be transferred by the LG,” he said.
Mir said Omar Abdullah government has already proposed the business rules and forwarded it to the centre for approval.
“The LG should have been more patient as he knew that the proposal for business rules was under consideration. The transfer of JKAS officers has undermined the role and mandate of the elected government in J&K," he said.