Harsh Gupta | From editor’s desk | Crores of rupees were spent on J & K assembly elections, not to mention the additional efforts put by the government machinery courtesy the difficult terrains of the state.
Eventually we celebrated this festival of democracy, and the results with much fanfair.
The ruling party came with a clear mandate and one handsome man was made our Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah.
But as the title goes,” WHERE IS MY CM ?”
You see any local daily, the substance news is with LG wherein he would be in the thick of policymaking decisions vis-a-vis J&K whereas our CM would be busy in far trivial issues.
LG’s share of contribution in the system evolved by the Home Minister of India to handle the security scenario in an impeccable way cannot be ignored but at the same time mandate given by 1.5 crores of people to Omar Abdullah cannot be ridiculed. The other day there was a mention in a leading newspaper wherein CM was requesting some relief for fire victims of Kishtwar. Whom is he requesting? Where is the budget for the UT cabinet ?
This man Omar is facing a unique challenge in exercising his authority. Centre’s continued grip on key aspects of governance has only made him a sort of deputy to LG.
Knowing Abdullah for the last 30 years or so ( his political journey ), it won’t be an exaggeration to state that he is more mature, possesses more political acumen and better leadership qualities than most of his contemporaries, one name is Rahul Gandhi. Sidelining Omar in this manner does not augur well with the spirit of democracy.
Two power centres have been created, and history has shown that this arrangement has always been a recipe for disasters. Accountability can’t have two fathers.
Government departments are running on “We don’t know” mode.
The Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation Act 2019 has ensured that the centre remains the boss in all the key departments. I would not hesitate to say that this is a bit of colonial mindset.
In one of my earlier writeups, I’d shown my apprehensions regarding Home ministry being given to the state government in case of the return of the statehood because I genuinely feel that giving Home to the state government would be a catastrophe for obvious reasons but centre having the control over finance, communication, GAD, revenue etc. would be not less than killing the democracy which we people in J&K were longing for the longest.
All said and done the least I would like Omar, MY CM is to make reels, enjoy weather, do sightseeing in Rajasthan and being no where near administration, It seems our CM is on a sabbatical !
As far as New Delhi is concerned, giving world class road infrastructures, railway networks, AIIMS, IITs, IIMs etc. and not giving powers to the representatives of the people of J&K is like royal feeding a parrot in a golden cage.
Omar is a calibred man, he should be given his due and the mandate of the masses should be honoured !
