After Rahul Gandhi recently accused the Lt Governor of Jammu and Kashmir of acting like a king in the UT, Manoj Sinha on Thursday said he would resign from if more than 75 per cent of the people did not agree if he had not worked for the prosperity of the public in the past five years.
Speaking at the Panchayats show organised by a TV broadcaster, Sinha said a secret ballot could be conducted to measure public sentiment following the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019.
“Rahul Gandhi should take public opinion on the development,” he could conduct a secret ballot on this, "and if more than 75 per cent of people do not say that work has been done for their betterment in the past five years, I will resign from my past,” Sinha said.
During his recent visit to poll-bound Kashmir, Gandhi took a jibe at Sinha by comparing him to the kings of the past.
“A king is sitting in J&K, known as LG, who is taking the wealth from the local population and handing it to outsiders by awarding them the contracts meant for local people,” Gandhi said.
Sinha meanwhile said that whichever party comes to power alone or in coalition would have his full support.
His remarks followed a move by the Centre to give more powers to the LG in the Union Territory.
Several opposition parties raised concerns over the decision and accused that it was taken to make the incoming government dependent on LG.
However, Sinha said, “In the Union Territories, the Lieutenant Governor has such powers. Whichever government comes, it will have my full support."
“The people of Jammu and Kashmir, especially the people of the Valley, have expressed faith in the democracy of India,” he added.
Sinha has been in charge of the J&K as LG since 2020.
Regarding Article 370, he said, it's now a thing of the past and no longer a part of the Constitution. The opposition should understand that even the Supreme Court has upheld the government’s decision to remove Article 370 from the constitution, Sinha added.
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