Omar slams LG over ‘conspiracy’ behind Jammu bulldozer demolitions

Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Friday launched a sharp attack on the lieutenant-governor’s administration, accusing Raj Bhavan of orchestrating “arbitrary transfers” and politically motivated bulldozer drives in what he described as a deliberate attempt to “malign” the relatively recently elected government in the Union Territory.

Abdullah’s remarks came a day after the Jammu Development Authority (JDA) demolished several structures in Jammu, including the home of a local journalist — an action that has drawn widespread condemnation across political and civil society circles.

According to the chief minister, officers “posted by Raj Bhavan” have been acting unilaterally. “They use bulldozers independently, without the elected government’s permission and without consulting the concerned minister,” he told reporters. “It indicates a clear conspiracy to tarnish the image of the elected government.”

The confrontation marks the latest flare-up in an increasingly acrimonious relationship between Abdullah and lieutenant-governor Manoj Sinha. Since the restoration of an elected government earlier this year, Abdullah has repeatedly accused the LG’s office of refusing to transfer administrative control, particularly over field-level officers and development authorities.

Raj Bhavan, for its part, has publicly claimed that it does not interfere in the working of the elected government. The competing claims have created dual power centres — an arrangement that has fuelled chronic turf battles over postings, land regulation, and the limits of executive authority in the post-Article 370 governance framework.

Abdullah argued that this latest incident illustrates why his government has insisted on having the authority to assign field staff. “It is fine for you to post principal secretaries, commissioner secretaries, additional chief secretaries and so on,” he said, “but the CEOs of development authorities must be appointed by the elected government.

"Revenue staff must be posted with our permission. Instead, officers are being sent to these posts without any discussion. They then take dictation from somewhere else, bring out bulldozers and start action.”x

He alleged that “a conspiracy is afoot” and that the demolitions appear to be aimed at a particular community. “Is this the only place in Jammu where encroachment allegations exist? I’ve asked the department for a full list of JDA land encroachments. I also want to know why this single person was targeted — and whether his religion was a factor. It is impossible that there is only one case of encroachment across all JDA land.”

Responding to LG Sinha’s earlier assertion that there was no interference in day-to-day governance, Abdullah countered: “This is a clear case of interference. Let someone show me a single file indicating that the concerned minister was informed or consulted.”

While stressing that his government does not support illegal encroachments, the chief minister said the “pick-and-choose bulldozer culture” adopted by officers aligned to Raj Bhavan was designed solely “to defame the elected government because some people cannot digest the election results”.

Had the officer been appointed by his administration, Abdullah added, he would already have taken disciplinary action. “How can such a major step be taken without ministerial approval? If this had happened once, it could be an error. But it is now a pattern.”

Throwing down a challenge, he urged the JDA CEO to publish a full list of alleged encroachers in the newspapers. “Let him reveal the names for all of Jammu,” he said. “Only targeting specific individuals on the basis of religion or location points to nothing but a political conspiracy.”

With PTI inputs