J&K headed for a winter of discontent? It will depend on the playbook of Lt Guv: Times of India

NEW DELHI: The J&K LG will prima facie have the same powers as the Delhi LGand also control prisons, which are under the state government in Delhi. Observers are not ruling out a recurring tension in working relations between the LG and the elected government – a common phenomenon in Delhi – over several issues.
Perhaps the first indication that the Center was ready for the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir when it amended the Transaction of Business of the Govt of Union Territory of J&K on July 12, 2024, to make it mandatory for all decisions relating to postings and transfers of Secretary-level officers, appointment of law officials, grant or denial of prosecution sanctions and prison related matters, to be submitted for approval to the Lieutenant Governor (LG), through the Chief Secretary.
The amendments – which the Center had said it had the power to notify under the provisions of the J&K Reorganization Act, 2019 – expand LG’s powers by making its approval necessary for postings and transfers of secretaries of all J&K administrative departments and cadre post officers.
While this is a significant power as the LG can decide the heads of various J&K departments, a source said the transfers and postings of the subordinate staff, which total nearly five lakh, will remain in the hands of the J&K government .
The J&K LG will have prima facie same powers as the Delhi LG, in that he will have the final say on matters relating to the J&K Police, including the various departments like CID, and SIA, as well as the J&K -anti-corruption agency. (ACB). In addition to these powers, all files on matters relating to prisons, the Directorate of Prosecution and forensic science laboratories, as well as the appointment of judicial officers, will have to be sent to LG through the Chief Secretary or the Chief Minister.
The LG also has the exclusive power to appoint the five nominated MLAs in the J&K Assembly.
Police affairs, public order and control of the security network will remain exclusively with LG, who will continue to lead the Unified Headquarters. This means that the LG will chair all meetings and sessions on counter-terrorism strategy with heads of armed forces, central paramilitary forces, central and state intelligence agencies and J&K police.
This leaves no room for the coming elected dispensation to disrupt or dilute the security offensive. benefits such as passports and government jobs for local overhead workers (OGWs) and terror supporters/sympathizers.
Any opposition by the J&K government to crackdown on terror attacks on the local population could leave it open to attacks by the BJP. The Congress, as a national player in the J&K coalition, may find it particularly difficult to fend off such attacks as it balances the regional interests of NC, its key partner, with maintaining its nationalist credentials.
What observers are not ruling out is the recurring tension in the working ties between the LG and J&K dispensation – a common phenomenon in Delhi that follows the same governance model – over what the latter might project as ‘law and order’ and ‘failures in counter-terrorism’. ‘, in addition to the transfer and secondment of preferred bureaucrats. But ultimately, both sides can learn to live and govern with disagreements from time to time.