J&K CM Omar Abdullah Chairs Emergency Meeting Amid Tension Over L-G’s Transfer Orders

J&K CM Omar Abdullah chaired an emergency meeting over LG Manoj Sinha’s controversial transfer of 48 JKAS officers, sparking tensions between the elected government and Raj Bhavan.

J&K CM Omar Abdullah Chairs Emergency Meeting Amid Tension Over L-G’s Transfer Orders

Source : PTI

In a dramatic escalation of the ongoing tussle between the Raj Bhavan and the elected government, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah chaired an emergency meeting of the ruling National Conference (NC) and its alliance partners on Friday. The meeting comes in the wake of Lieutenant Governor (LG) Manoj Sinha’s controversial decision to transfer 48 Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Services (JKAS) officers without consulting the elected government.

Held at Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary’s residence in Gupkar, the meeting was attended by NC president Farooq Abdullah, Cabinet ministers, NC MLAs, and three Congress legislators led by chief whip Nizamuddin Bhat.

"We will get to know what the agenda of the meeting will be later on. But I think it's going to be about the LG's order of transfer for some officers...We have an elected government here, and it is the decision of the government how to run the administration," said NC MLA Hilal Akbar Lone before the meeting.

#WATCH | Srinagar, J&K | On the NC's legislative party meeting, party leader Hilal Akbar Lone says, "We will get to know what the agenda of the meeting will be later on. But I think it's going to be about the LG's order of transfer for some officers...We have an elected… pic.twitter.com/jLKpx7W0BE

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The transfers, which include 14 additional deputy commissioners and 26 sub-divisional magistrates, were ordered by the General Administration Department earlier this week. The Chief Minister has taken strong exception to the move, asserting that such orders violate the legal and administrative framework laid out in the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act.

In a letter to LG Sinha, Abdullah stated that “transfers and postings of officers outside the All India Services cadre was the exclusive prerogative of the elected government” and urged a review of the “unilateral decision.” He also raised the issue with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, expressing concern over what he described as a series of actions that “eroded the authority of his government.”

Home Minister Amit Shah's Visit

The meeting comes just two days ahead of Shah’s three-day visit to the Union Territory, during which he is scheduled to hold security review meetings in Jammu and Srinagar in the aftermath of recent terror incidents in the Kathua district.

Highlighting the strain between the two constitutional authorities, Congress National General Secretary Gulam Ahmed Mir commented, “It would have been advisable for LG to wait a while as the business rules are pending approval. The LG should have been more patient.”

In a significant directive, the Chief Minister has instructed Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo to halt any further transfer or posting orders for non-All India Services officers without his explicit approval. Additionally, he has asked for the recent transfer orders of the 48 JKAS officers to be kept in abeyance.

“The Raj Bhavan is undermining the elected government,” said MLA Lone, hinting that the Friday meeting would also strategize measures to prevent a recurrence of such moves. With political temperatures rising and the Union Home Minister’s visit imminent, Friday’s meeting led by Omar Abdullah signals a united front by the ruling alliance to assert its constitutional mandate in the face of what it sees as administrative overreach by the LG.