J&K bureaucracy divided between outgoing chief secretary, others: Omar

Former J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said that in the UT, the bureaucracy is divided between outgoing chief secretary and others

Former J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said that in the UT, the bureaucracy is divided between outgoing chief secretary and others.

This is the second time in three days when Omar Abdullah took potshots at the government on the issue of chief secretary. (ANI)

Recently, BVR Subrahmanyam was shifted from J&K and AK Mehta was appointed as the new chief secretary of the UT.

“Two chief secretaries in J&K, an administration split between loyalists of the outgoing CS and others who want to get on with their work but cannot figure out what’s going on. So much for good governance and accountability,” tweeted the NC vice-president.

This is the second time in three days when Omar took potshots at the government on the issue of chief secretary. Earlier, Omar, in a tweet, had said that Subrahmanyam wasn’t keen to handover charge to the new chief secretary.

“Very unusual order issued by the J&K government. If I didn’t know better, I’d read this order to mean the outgoing CS wasn’t too keen to hand over charge to his successor. Either way, I haven’t seen an order like this before,” he tweeted, while posting a government order about the new chief secretary.

“A man who famously said no Kashmiris shed tears when mainstream politicians were detained in 2019. In 2021, it looks like no one can wait to show him the door. Be careful who you step on, on the way up, you will meet them on the way down,” Omar said in another tweet.

Subrahmanyam was appointed as OSD in the Union commerce ministry. Senior IAS officer AK Mehta, who has served in J&K at different posts in last two decades, was appointed as the new chief secretary of the UT.

Without taking the name of Subrahmanyam, People’s Conference chairman Sajjad Lone had said that the former chief secretary had hatred towards people of Kashmir.

“Will be remembered as the darkest person in the darkest hours of Kashmir. A person consumed by self and also consumed by hatred for Kashmiris. Saw expression of naked hatred for Kashmiris and belittlement of Kashmiris as a means of upward mobility for his self,” Lone had said in a series of tweets.

“Trespassed into a domain which belonged to the political class. Made statements which were unambiguously political nature. Made a trespass into the dividing line between politics and bureaucracy,” he said in another tweet.