Madhav hints at new Governor in 2 weeks

BJP not in favour of early govt formation in J&K

JAMMU: Affirming the substance in the rumour mill working overtime over replacement of incumbent N N Vohra, BJP’s senior leader and in-charge of party affairs in state, Ram Madhav today asserted that Jammu & Kashmir may have a new governor in two-week’s time, coinciding with the culmination of ongoing Amarnath Yatra.

Reiterating that BJP was not doing any number-crunching for formation of government in state which witnessed fall of saffron party’s coalition dispensation with PDP after the former pulled out of it, Madhav favoured the continuation of Governor’s rule; while not ruling out possibility of the regional political players NC, PDP along Congress coming together for government formation.

Governor Vohra, who arrived in state in 2008 was given a extended term in 2013 which expired in June this year; however with the changed political scenario, he was asked to continue by Centre, especially in wake of two-month long sensitive Amarnath Yatra which ends on August 26.

“The tenure of the governor gets over in a couple of weeks. The government can think about the future, take what steps it thinks are best. I assume there will be a new governor soon,” BJP general secretary Madhav said in an interview with a national portal.

Rumours about a new governor in Jammu & Kashmir have been around for some time now.

Names of Maharashtra governor C. Vidyasagar Rao, a committed activist of the RSS for several decades, and Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) and former home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi are being touted as possible successors to Vohra since long, with his current Advisor B B Vyas also in the fray.

Sources said there had been differences of opinion between Vohra and the BJP leadership, especially around the restoration of the assembly and Article 35A, which outlines the special privileges residents of Jammu & Kashmir are entitled to.

Asked about if BJP was trying to make a government again in state, Madhav said his party would prefer Governor’s rule to continue for at least a year.
“Right now we prefer to continue governor’s rule in J&K. We are in favour of continuing the state of suspended animation of the assembly,” said Madhav.

Although the J&K assembly has been in suspended animation since the BJP pulled out of the coalition government in late June, speculation has been rife that the party wants to break away members from its former alliance partner, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and form the state government.

It is to be noted here that if BJP and PDP are to come together again, they have a race against time because Governor Vohra has set into motion the process of elections to Panchayat and Urban Local Bodies in the state to begin by first week of September.

If at all there is a possibility of forming a government, that has to be in next three weeks. Once the electoral process gets underway then it becomes very difficult to install a government in between as it can subvert the already ongoing political process of these crucial elections.

However, Madhav warned of the changing political scenario.

“We will have to see how politics happens. What if the National Conference and Congress and PDP come together? They have the numbers… But we are in favour of continuing governor’s rule, and after that, perhaps, President’s rule for another six months,” he added.

In the 87-member J&K assembly, the PDP is currently the single-largest party with 28 MLAs, followed by the BJP (25), the National Conference (15) and the Congress (12).

Madhav, the BJP’s pointperson for Kashmir, was in Srinagar last week to persuade the PDP to support the NDA’s candidate in the election for the post of deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha. In the end, the PDP refused to support the NDA candidate, but abstained from voting. This lowered the threshold for victory, helping Harivansh Narayan Singh win handsomely.