Vijai Kapoor likely to be named new J&K Governor by Aug-end

Is the Narendra Modi government about to replace Jammu and Kashmir's long-reigning Governor N.N. Vohra with former Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Vijai Kapoor?

There are indications that the government is all set to replace Vohra by the end of August.

Sources say Vijai Kapoor's name is doing the rounds as the likely replacement.

The Centre has indicated that it wants to effect a change in the Raj Bhavan in the troubled state. Governor Vohra has been very quiet, at least publicly, during the ongoing unrest in Kashmir.

But the Centre also made it clear that it did not want a former cop or an army man to replace Vohra, a pointed message to two men -- one, a cop who put down the Khalistan militancy in Punjab; the other, a former Army general who is credited with calming Kashmir
during the 2010 crisis in that state and who is much liked by the people of the state.

Vijai Kapoor is a retired IAS officer and former Lt. Governor of Delhi during the Vajpayee government between 1998 and 2004 and joined the BJP in 2008. He is currently director of the Gujarat State Fertilizers and Chemical Limited.

Sources said, however, that while the Centre was considering naming a new Governor by the end of the month, it is also contemplating other changes and that could mean last minute changes to the plan to have a new man in Raj Bhavan.

The Centre feels that the state machinery had not done enough to quell the current unrest. It also feels that the Governor has a crucial role to play in a time of crisis.

Sources said the Centre had also contemplated giving the J&K government a week's time to restore the Valley to normal and suggested that the Centre is ready to impose President's Rule in the state.

OneIndia News