Hope Guv rule in J&K won’t be for long, says Vohra

As uncertainty looms large over the formation of the next government, Jammu and Kashmir Governor NN Vohra on Tuesday expressed hope that the Governor’s Rule in the state will “not be for long”.

Unfurling the Tricolor here on the Republic Day, he said the state has suffered a lot because of cross-border terrorism and hoped that the fresh peace initiatives launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Pakistan would bear fruit and the people here would be able to live and work in a peaceful environment.

“Unfortunately, after a brief illness, Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed suddenly passed away in early January this year. Consequently, the state is placed under Governor’s rule, which I hope shall not be for long,” he said in his address at the MA Stadium.

His comments come amidst continued uncertainty over the formation of the next government as the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), which was heading the previous coalition government with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has made no moves in this regard since Sayeed’s demise on January 7.

Vohra said while the erstwhile Sayeed government had commenced certain initiatives, economic investment and growth has not so far taken off for varied reasons, which include inadequate financial resources, poor connectivity, high transportation cost of raw materials and acute shortage of power. 

He said for several years, the state government has been implementing various central schemes for providing opportunities to the unemployed youth to develop their skills.