Advisory council? BJP says ‘Not against any move which connects people & Govt’

Srinagar, Aug 14: A week after the appointment of Manoj Sinha as the Lieutenant Governor (L-G) of Jammu and Kashmir and with the reports that advisory council may be formed in the Union territory to start the political process, the BJP Friday said that they are not against any decision which connects people and the government.
“BJP is not against any decision which connects people and the government. I cannot say that the advisory council will be formed. Discussions do happen, but yes our part wants that there must be some initiative to connect with the people,” Former Deputy Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Dr Nirmal Singh told news agency KINS over phone.
Singh said that public reach out is important to start the political process in Jammu and Kashmir. “We believe that the political activity must carry forward in Jammu and Kashmir. We are hopeful that LG Manoj Sinha will soon take a decision to create such a link where common people can be reached,” he said.
It is not possible to restore the political process if we could not reach the public. “People’s trust in the government should be restored, people’s trust is necessary. For that, LG Sinha should create such a link where people can list their problems and the government addresses them,” the BJP leader said.
At present, there are four advisors to the L-G , Kewal Kumar Sharma, Farooq Khan, Rajeev Bhatnagar and Baseer Ahmed Khan. All of them are civil servants and were appointed during G.C. Murmu’s tenure.
These advisers to the L-G are powerful postings and they act as the in-charge of many departments to execute development works.
BJP sources said that one of the grievances against Murmu was that he was more or less bureaucratic in his functioning, and he rarely met people to know about their issues.
Sources in J&K BJP said senior leaders have apprised the LG Sinah of all these issues.
Nirmal Singh further  told KINS that the first step to restore normalcy in J&K is initiating dialogue with political parties, which can facilitate desired results.
He said that the delimitation process should be sped up and before thinking of holding elections in the UT, everyone should be approached to listen to their concerns, he added.
He said that the BJP leadership has assured party workers in Kashmir Valley that they would be provided security by the administration following recent attacks on village-level leaders by militants.
Five BJP leaders were killed and two others critically injured in separate attacks in the valley over the past one month.
Pertinent to mention here that It is now two years that J&K is without a political government.
The PDP-BJP coalition government was the last political government of the state of Jammu and Kashmir – now split into two Union Territories. The government fell after the BJP withdrew its support to the PDP on June 18, 2018.