‘I know my boundaries’: L-G Manoj Sinha on J&K officials’ transfer; Omar Abdullah’s party asks Centre to respect mandate
L-G Manoj Sinha ordered the transfers of the JKAS officials on April 1. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has termed these transfers “illegal”, saying matters of governance are the domain of the elected government.
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At an event organised by Network18 in Delhi on Friday, Manoj Sinha said his actions were within the constitutional framework laid down in the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019.On a day the Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor defended his move to transfer 48 officers of the J&K Administrative Service (JKAS), Legislative Party members of J&K’s ruling National Conference and ally Congress met Friday and passed a resolution urging the Centre to respect the people’s mandate in the Union Territory.
L-G Manoj Sinha ordered the transfers of the JKAS officials on April 1. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has termed these transfers “illegal”, saying matters of governance are the domain of the elected government.
However, at an event organised by Network18 in Delhi on Friday, Sinha said his actions were within the constitutional framework laid down in the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019.
“I am well within my domain and I will never do anything by stepping out of it,” he said, adding, “I know my boundaries and I will never breach those boundaries.”
On the same day in Srinagar, Legislative Party members of both NC and Congress met at the residence of Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary and passed two resolutions. The first one condemned the passing of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill in both Houses of Parliament and the second addressed concerns of governance in J&K.
“We believe that the mandate given to us by the people of J&K after their participation in the Assembly elections last year needs to be respected,” NC’s chief spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq said after the meeting. Without naming L-G Sinha, Sadiq said, “Anyone who does not respect this mandate is insulting it, and through this resolution, we have requested and demanded from the Government of India to respect this mandate.”
Asserting that the government is keen to execute work on the ground, Sadiq said, “Don’t push us to the wall. While we want coordination between the Centre, the L-G and the government here, don’t take our coordination as a weakness.”
The NC spokesperson, also a member of the J&K Assembly from Zadibal constituency in Srinagar, was accompanied by Congress leader Nizamuddin Bhat. Bhat said certain long-term and short-term issues were considered during the meeting and that “everyone should understand that all the MLAs in the alliance are fully behind the leader of the House, Omar Abdullah.”
Meanwhile, the Opposition took aim at the NC, accusing the party of shifting goalposts. PDP leader and Pulwama MLA Waheed Para said, “A party in J&K that once appointed its own Sadri Reyast and PM is now fighting over Tehsildar appointments, not rights. Goalposts aren’t just shifting, they’ve hit rock bottom.”
Para remarked that 50 MLAs of the ruling coalition have united, “not for resisting August 5 (the 2019 date on which the abrogation of J&K’s special status was announced), but for KAS transfers.”
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