New Delhi: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah called on Union Home Minister Amit Shah here on Monday and the two leaders discussed various issues related to the Union territory.
No details of the meeting were available.
The meeting comes amid growing tensions between the elected government of the Union territory and the Lt Governor’s (LG) administration.
The Transaction of Business Rules (TBR) are also yet to be settled between the elected government and the LG administration.
“Chief Minister today met Union Home Minister @AmitShah in New Delhi to discuss various matters concerning Jammu and Kashmir,” Abdullah’s office said in a post on X.
The meeting also comes in the backdrop of reports of Kashmiri shawl sellers being roughed up in various parts of the country.
The budget session of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly is scheduled to begin in February and the Union home ministry is the nodal ministry for the allocation of funds for the Union territories.
In the past, Abdullah has said that while the central government has been “well disposed” in terms of funding and extending capital expenditure schemes, the relationship with the LG’s office has been antagonistic.
Abdullah has publicly alleged that the LG appointed an IAS officer to a post reserved for J&K Administrative Services (JKAS) to deny the elected government control over the information department.
Abdullah has been vocal about the “disempowerment” of the office of the Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, saying that he has had the “unique misfortune” of transitioning from leading one of the country’s most empowered states to a Union territory with “far less power than any other state CM”.
In his past interactions with the media, Abdullah has listed what he termed as administrative “strangulation” by the LG’s office, alleging interference in departments that have nothing to do with security or law and order.
