If the reports coming from New Delhi are to be believed, Telangana Governor E S L Narasimhan is likely to be appointed as the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir.
On Monday, the NDA government took a historic decision revoking Article 370 that granted autonomous status to Jammu and Kashmir as an independent state and declaring it to be an integral part of India.
The Centre also issued a gazette notification declaring Jammu and Kashmir as two separate Union Territories – Jammu and Kashmir region as UT with legislature and Ladakh-Leh region as another UT without legislature.
Following this, the Centre is planning to appoint a Lt Governor for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
Sources said the Home Ministry has zeroed in on Narasimhan for the job. Orders to this effect are likely to be issued shortly.
Apparently, the Centre felt Narasimhan is the most suitable person for the Lt Governor post for various reasons.
First, he is a retired IPS officer who had worked as Intelligence Bureau chief and in other capacities in the Ministry of Home Affairs. Secondly, Narasimhan is also a close associate of National Security Advisor Ajit Dhoval.
Thirdly, Narasimhan had a fair understanding of controlling the law and order, as he had worked in the dreaded Maoist regions like Chhattisgarh.
Fourthly, he also has a fair understanding of the issues emerging out of the formation of a new state or UT, as was evident from the issues he had handled during the bifurcation of combined Andhra Pradesh state.
