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| PDP, Congress using Governor Sinha to settle scores with each other | | | Gareeb Dass
Jammu | May 31
Without his fault Governor,S.K.Sinha,was being wrongly dragged into a controversy over his tenure.And rightly or inadvertently the central Government seems to enjoy raising the level of suspense over whether Delhi will opt for retaining him for the time being or go in for a change of guard in the Raj Bhawan.Mr Sinha is due to retire on June 4 and common sense demands that Delhi has cast its dice in favour of giving him extension but it is amazing that still the PDP leadership has not given up its anti-Sinha campaign.
If an opinion poll is held in Jammu and Kashmir Governor Sinha will be voted as the least controversial constitutional head.The reason for Sinha going by the book is that as a retired Lt. General,who started his career as a junior officer during the turbulent days in Kashmir in 1947-49,is that a long career in the Army had inculcated in him strong seeds of discipline.During his five-year tenure in Jammu and Kashmir Sinha has demonstrated his scholarship.He has not manned the Raj Bhawan as a rugged soldier but as a keen watcher of people and political activities.May be he was lucky that during his tenure the state did not witness constitutional crisis which could have warranted imposition of the Governor's rule.Those who had preceded him,including L.K.Jha,B.K.Nehru and Jagmohan had earned displeasure from one section of politicians and people and bouquets from others.Why so?
The state unit of the Congress was upset and angry when L.K.Jha accepted the recommendaions of the then Chief Minister,Sheikh Abdullah,to dissolve the Assembly and order fresh elections in 1977.The Sheikh had regained power following his accord with Indira Gandhi in 1975 had formed the Government with outside support of the Congress.Within less than two years the Congress withdrew its support hoping that it would be able to form the Government.L.K.Jha had followed the rule book by accepting the recommendations of Sheikh Abdullah.Possibly Jha would not have accepted the Sheikh's recommendations had not the Congress Government in the centre lost power.B.K.Nehru had opposed Delhi's suggestion that he should dismiss the Farooq led Government when defectors from the National Conference stake claim to form the Government with the support of the Congress.Nehru preferred losing his job to yielding to Delhi's pressure.And Jagmohan was appointed Governor who obliged Delhi by inviting the defectors led by G.M.Shah to form the Government which listed Jagmohan among the controversial Governors.This taint of conteroversial Governor could not be erased from Jagmohan who,during his rule,had been instrumental in improving the work culture needed for speedy implementation of development schemes in Jammu and Kashmir.
In the context of these developments Sinha has been the least controversial.Yes,he is almost a red reg to the PDP bull because during the PDP headed Government Sinha stuck to his stand on prolonging the annual Amarnath Yatra to two months.While Mufti Sayeed opposed it on the plea that the two month long yatra would stress the security forces,Sinha argued that a three-week or one-month yatra period usually disappointed a large number of pilgrims who could not make it to the holy cave.This strained the relations between the Governor and the Chief Minister.The two hardly met each other during the three-year tenure of the Mufti as Chief Minister.The Mufti did not even visit the Raj Bhawan for briefing the Governor on the political and security scenario in the state.The PDP leadership had suspected that in his monthly reports to the centre Sinha had not been as much appreciative of the Mufti as he has been about Ghulam Nabi Azad.Azad,after taking over as the Chief Minister,has been a regular visitor to the Raj Bhawan where besides briefing Sinha he has been seeking his guidance.
Again it is unfortunate that a Governor like Sinha,who defied his age and visited each nook and corner of the state,including the difficult forward areas,was being used by the PDP and the Congress to settle scores with each other.At least the PDP leadership should realise that Sinha is not interested in seeking another term.He has made his mind known to his friends that he wanted to hang his boots as early as possible.But the state needs him at least for another six months as it is election year and the annual Amarnath yatra is to begin shortly. |
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