Political parties in Jammu and Kashmir were left fuming on Saturday after the Narendra Modi-led government moved to imbue the Lieutenant Governor with additional powers. The Congress dubbed it as the "murder of democracy" while the National Conference and PDP insisted that the decision would "disempower" the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Meanwhile the Apni Party has called for all political groups to shun differences and protest unitedly against the move.
“The only meaning that can be drawn from this notification is that full-fledged statehood for Jammu and Kashmir does NOT seem likely in the immediate future. There has been a consensus across political parties that Jammu and Kashmir must immediately become a full-fledged state of the Indian Union once again, and not remain an Union Territory,” said senior party leader Jairam Ramesh.
The Rajya Sabha MP also reiterated the Supreme Court's call for mandatory elections in the northern UT before the end of September. He noted that PM Modi was “on record saying that full-fledged statehood would be restored”.
“The central government has got this feeling that their decision of August 2019 was an injustice to the people of an already existing state. That's why the amendment was brought. It's positive news for us in a way... LG is the person who runs the state, so in a way, they (the central government) have transferred some of the powers to the chief of the state... In another way, maybe they are trying to curtail the powers of the future elected agency,” added Congress leader Ghulam Ahmad Mir.
Meanwhile the National Conference and the People's Democratic Party labelled the decision as a step towards "disempowering" the people of Jammu and Kashmir
The Lieutenant Governor's authority will now extend to the appointment of the Advocate General and other law officers which had previously been determined by the government. Proposals concerning police, public order, all-India services and the Anti-Corruption Bureau must also be presented directly to the Lieutenant Governor through the chief secretary under the new guidelines.
(With inputs from agencies)
