A politician may replace Vohra as J&K governor
Vishwa Mohan, TNN, Oct 5, 2010, 12.47am IST
NEW DELHI: Jammu and Kashmir, which has a history of having either retired bureaucrats or defence personnel as its governor, may get a politician as head of state as the Centre is mulling an option to replace N N Vohra (retired IAS officer) with a senior political leader.
Though Vohra, who was appointed as J&K governor in 2008, still has nearly three years of his term left, he may be shifted to some other state to make way for a new person who has been through the rough and tumble of politics.
Athough widely acclaimed for his administrative accumen, Vohra has not been quite visible since the eruption of trouble in the sensitive state, something that is seen as compounding problems for the chief minister, a political sophomore.
The search for a political governor is reflective of a shift in the government's focus -- from defence against Pakistan-backed terrorists to a political response to grievances driving the current agitation. It is felt that the chief minister, seen by many as bereft of political advice from his senior National Conference colleagues, can do with the advice from a political governor.
"Even though the governor does not have any direct role in governance, a politician with better understanding of representative politics can be useful for J&K where the general public feel quite alienated at the current juncture," said a senior government source summing up the thinking in the government.
Vohra was the central interlouctor for the state before he replaced Lt General (retd) S K Sinha as the governor in June 2008.
The Centre is also looking for a senior Congress politician -- someone who may not be in active politics but not quite a "has-been" either -- for J&K to head the group of interlocutors. He may be given the rank of a Cabinet minister.
Union home minister P Chidambaram is believed to have discussed the issue with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during a one-on-one meeting on Monday when names of some senior Congress leaders are understood to have figured.
"The names are expected to be announced as soon as possible," said the source. The appointment of interlocutors is part of the Centre's eight-point peace initiative announced last month.
Sources hinted that most of the interlocutors would be from outside J&K but would be having a fair idea about the issues there. The issue of appointing Muslim, Hindu and women representative as interlocutors was also being considered, sources said adding the chairman of the group would certainly be a close confidant of the Prime Minister.
It is believed that it would be easier for a group of interlocutors to look beyond Srinagar during the peace process. The interlocutors can travel to small towns like Baramulla, Anantnag, Sopore, Uri, Doda, Rajouri and other areas and interact with cross-sections of people unlike in the past when a single interlocutor hardly looked to the hinterlands.
Meanwhile, 49 stone-pelters have been released and nine bunkers of security forces removed from some civilian areas in the state as part of the government's peace initiative....http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=Q0FQLzIwMTAvMTAvMDUjQXIwMDEwNA==&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom
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