TIA NEWS /
BJP presses for New Delhi’s consent on replacement of Chief Secretary, opposes cadre restructuring of KPS; Meeting inconclusive
The first Cabinet meeting in Jammu after Durbar Move ended on a discordant note on Friday as
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti walked out of the meeting in anger after her proposal to replace incumbent Chief Secretary BR Sharma with senior bureaucrat BB Vyas was opposed by BJP, arguing the issue wasn’t part of agenda circulated for the meeting.
Sources said that ahead of the Cabinet meeting, which took place at 4:30 p.m Friday, the proposal to replace Sharma with Vyas, who is Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, came up for discussion between the coalition partners.
“During the meeting, Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh argued that they (BJP) will have to first seek consent from New Delhi (for replacement of Chief Secretary),” the sources said.
However when the Cabinet meeting took place, Mehbooba moved the proposal which was objected to by the BJP ministers saying it wasn’t part of the Cabinet agenda.
“At this juncture, the Chief Minister rebuked the Chief Secretary (who is also Cabinet secretary). She got very upset and reprimanded the Chief Secretary before leaving the meeting in a huff,” the sources said, adding she straightaway drove to her official residence at Wazarat Road in the winter capital.
As the meeting ended abruptly nearly after two hours, the sources said, Nirmal Singh, who hold the charge of Power and Housing and Urban Development Ministries, along with Finance Minister HaseebDrabu drove to the Chief Minister’s residence. Later Rural Development Minister Abdul Haq Khan also rushed to the CM’s residence.
BR Sharma, who is from Jammu, was appointed as Chief Secretary by the previous PDP-BJP regime led by former Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed in September last year. An IAS officer of 1984 batch, Sharma had emerged as the choice of coalition to replace his predecessor Muhammad Iqbal Khanday who had opted for voluntary retirement on August 31following differences with the Government. His service tenure ends in 2020.
Vyas, who hails from Rajasthan, is 1986 batch IAS officer. Over the years, Vyas, who is Financial Commissioner Planning and Development Department, has held key postings in the government and has served as Principal Secretary to former Chief Ministers, Omar Abdullah and Mufti Muhammad Sayeed as well. When Mehbooba took over as the Chief Minister she picked up senior bureaucrat Naveen Choudhary as her Principal Secretary. But Vyas was back in the hot position in the midst of uprising in Kashmir.