Chhattisgarh-cadre officer Chief Secy; two advisers to Vohra appointed

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, June 20

A day after his recommendation, Governor NN Vohra on Wednesday issued a proclamation imposing Governor’s rule in the state under Section 92 of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, following President Ram Nath Kovind’s approval.The Governor had sent the recommendation after the PDP-BJP coalition government collapsed in the state with the BJP pulling out. That was followed by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, submitting her resignation.Editorial: An unmourned alliance exitsBefore the recommendations, Governor Vohra consulted leaders of all major political parties to find out possibilities of an “alternative alliances”. This is the third time that J&K has been brought under Governor’s rule under NN Vohra since January 2015, following the Assembly elections held in November-December 2014, when no party got a clear majority in the 87-member House. The PDP with 28 and BJP with 25 seats formed a coalition government led by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on March 1, 2015. The state came under Governor’s rule from January 9 to March 1, 2015. It was again imposed following the death of Mufti Sayeed on January 7, 2016, when Mehbooba Mufti refused to take over. She finally took oath on April 4. Earlier, Governor’s rule under Vohra was imposed  from July 11, 2008, to January 5, 2009, after the Congress-PDP coalition collapsed. Meanwhile, 1987-batch Chhattisgarh-cadre IAS officer BVR Subrahmanyam has been appointed as the new state Chief Secretary in place of BB Vyas, who has been appointed adviser to Governor Vohra. Former IPS officer Vijay Kumar will be another adviser.Subrahmanyam, considered an expert in internal security matters, served as private secretary to former PM Manmohan Singh during 2004-2008. He worked with the World Bank from 2008 to 2011 before again joining the Manmohan PMO in 2012. He was in the PMO after Narendra Modi became the PM in 2014 and stayed till March 2015. Vyas was given a year’s extension last month. Due to superannuate in November 2017, he was given two extensions till May-end to remain Chief Secretary.