Hours after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah urged Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha to approve the Business Rules listing powers of the elected government and remove the confusion in the administration, Rattan Lal Gupta, Provincial President of the ruling National Conference (NC), on Saturday flagged the “continued interference by the office of Lt Governor in the functioning of the elected government headed by Omar Abdullah”.
Gupta termed the situation as “undemocratic, unconstitutional, and deeply troubling” for the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Interacting with senior party functionaries here, Gupta said “India is a democratic country where governments are elected by the people, and their mandate must be respected.
“The people of J&K have chosen their representatives with the hope that, as assured by the Prime Minister and Home Minister, full statehood would be restored and the democratic machinery would function smoothly.
“But unfortunately eight months have passed, and the Centre has miserably failed to restore the statehood to J&K and the LG Office has still not sent back the Business Rules to the elected government.”
Gupta said that although the Home Department including Law and Order remains under the exclusive control of the Lieutenant Governor as stated by the LG himself, the rest of the departments are under the control of the elected government.
“Yet, the LG Office continues to meddle in day-to-day governance, creating a dual power structure that is causing institutional confusion and administrative chaos”, Gupta claimed.
Such actions of the LG office are sending a wrong message that the mandate of the people is being undermined and disrespected, the NC leader said.
The Provincial President said that such overreach is further alienating the people, especially in a region already grappling with administrative chaos. “J&K is a border state. Instead of enabling the elected government to function freely and deliver governance, the LG-led office is acting otherwise”, he added.
Gupta urged the centre to immediately intervene and ensure that the constitutional norms are upheld in letter and spirit.
“The Business Rules must be sent back to the elected Government without any further delay, and the LG’s office should step back from managing the departments falling under the domain of the elected government. The will of the people cannot be held hostage to bureaucratic overreach,” he said.
Gupta also welcomed the recent statement of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah regarding the utilization of Chenab water to meet the needs of the water-deficiency in Jammu city and Kandi belts of Samba and Kathua districts.
He said this vision was originally laid down by Dr. Farooq Abdullah during his tenure, who had proposed lifting Chenab water to address water scarcity in Jammu city, including the Kandi areas.
He recalled that even the Sheikh Abdullah-led government had initiated the Ravi-Tawi Canal project to resolve irrigation and drinking water issues, but delays by the Punjab government have only worsened the crisis over the years.