NEW DELHI: Search has begun for a political governor for Jammu and Kashmir. This is part of the endeavor to hold Assembly elections and entrust the State’s administration to an elected government.
The proposal to replace Girish Chandra Saxena by a very senior politician was suggested after the recent visit of M.M. Jacob, Minister of State for Home, to the troubled State. The Center’s intention is to obviate all scope for a charge that it is looking at the state’s problem from a police perspective.
Top political sources say that the name of the new Governor, itself should inspire confidence not only among the people of Jammu and Kashmir, but send a message across the border too. As a cabinet source put it, the choice of the Governor has been given supreme importance since that will be one effective way in which the Prime Minister will be transmitting a signal to the forces across the border who are fomenting trouble in the valley.
While no name has firmly come up, some circles suggested that it should be someone with the stature and persuasiveness of former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister N.D. Tiwan. But these circles instantly discount the possibility of Tiwari being willing to accept such an onerous administrative responsibility abandoning the rough and tumble of active politics,
Why not, it has been asked in a hush-hush manner, draft Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh for this
Punjab i u approbation in political and administrative circles, Whether he would take the offer, if and when made, in the right spirit remains to be seen.
The proposal is not merely to have a new Governor but also to constitute an advisory council with broad political representation including leaders like Farooq Abdulla. The composition of the council, like the name of the Governor, is intended to be politically meaningful. It will be an effectively representative body reflecting a spectrum of views.
Communications Minister Rajesh Pilot who has been taking special interest in Kashmir affairs seems to have encouraged speculation that Farooq Abdulla could be considered for appointment as the chief adviser to the new Punjab Governor. This has inspired a remark in political circles that he could well be the Chief Minister.
The case against the dissolution of the Assembly is still pending before the court
There is an extreme view held in some limited circles that the old Assembly could be revived if the court holds the dissolution illegal. But there are no takers for that view since it will be a very odious affair in a State where sobriety is what is needed more than anything else today.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 30, 1992
