In the ongoing tussle between ruling National Conference and LG's office in J&K, President and former Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah directed a fresh salvo accusing Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha of sitting on Government files and obstructing the implementation of business rules which is impacting the performance of the government.
He also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure swift restoration of Statehood to Jammu and Kashmir. Even though both father and son in the Abdullah family have been making politically loaded statements against LG for quite some time, in fact much before elected government was restored after elections last year, these are being seem as reinforcement of pressure tactics towards demand for restoring sattehood in J&K.
“He (LG) is sitting on the files. How many times will I tell him? Scores of files are with him and they are not moving. I told him one day that you have demoted Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences. He said, ‘No, no, it has got its autonomy.’ It was a complete lie,” Farooq told reporters here as the Darbar Move offices reopened here today after four years.
Responding to a question from reporters about the Chief Minister and the LG criticizing each other, he said, “I hope those who are sitting on the files will send them back. Business rules must be implemented, shouldn’t they?”“This is the people’s Government. The people have voted for this Government. The rules must be fully implemented,” he added.
Asked if the LG was preventing the elected Government from performing its duties, Farooq said it was not about stopping work but about interfering.“It is the way he is dealing with things. He is delaying them, that is all he does. He must stop doing it. He should be a friend of the people and the Government. That’s what he is sitting there for,” the NC president said.
On Statehood restoration, Farooq expressed optimism and appealed to the Prime Minister to pay attention to Jammu and Kashmir’s problems.“God willing, that too will happen. It will happen soon,” he said.“I request the Prime Minister to be benevolent on Jammu and Kashmir so that its difficulties are removed. We request him to give special attention to the Statehood matter and ensure that it is restored as soon as possible,” he added.Taking a dig at the BJP, he said that those politicizing the issue should “leave politics” and instead focus on the welfare of the people and the development of the Union Territory.
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