Srinagar: Hours after Member of Parliament from Baramulla Abdul Rashid Sheikh alias Engineer Rashid protested in Srinagar against the Omar Abdullah-led government for the restoration of Darbar Move, the ruling National Conference mounted a strong attack on the maverick politicians for hitting the streets "too soon.".
Engineer Rashid held a protest this morning outside the Civil Secretariat, where the chief minister, his five cabinet ministers, and the rest of the bureaucracy hold office.
Rashid said that the chief minister should restore the century-old practice of shifting the secretariat officers between Srinagar and Jammu, the two capitals of the Jammu and Kashmir union territory.
Rashid said that if the government failed to revive the Darbar Move, he and his party, the Awami Itehad Party (AIP), would launch a "movement" against the government after one month.
Reacting to Rashid’s protest, NC senior leader and former minister from Jammu, Ajay Sadhotra, said that the CM and the NC government promised to restore the Darbar Move to its traditional style.
"The government is yet to resume offices completely; it will take some time to settle down and start smooth functioning and implementing all the promises that NC has made in its manifesto, which includes the restoration of Darbar Move," Sadhotra told ETV Bharat.
He said that politicians like Rashid were always in a hurry and did not understand the functioning of the government.
"Under the capable leadership of Omar Abdullah and guidance by Dr Farooq Abdullah, this government will restore Darbar Move and will take welfare measures for uplifting the people," he said.
The National Conference legislator from the Uri assembly constituency of Baramulla district, Dr. Sajjad Shafi (Uri), said that the NC government and party stand for unity and integration of Jammu and Kashmir.
"Our government under the chief ministership of Omar Abdullah will implement the manifesto. We will unite Jammu and Kashmir and revive Darbar Move, which is sort of a commercial and cultural link between Jammu and Kashmir," he said.
He said that Engineer Rashid should, as a member of parliament, work for the development of the Baramulla parliamentary constituency rather than hit the streets for "photos and media space."
"Engineer Rashid means theatrics for publicity, while the National Conference government and the party mean business and welfare of the people of Jammu and Kashmir," he said.
Another NC legislator, Salman Sagar, said that the manifesto of the party is a working roadmap of the government for the development and welfare of the Jammu and Kashmir people.
"People have voted for our manifesto, which is progressive and development-centric. Our government, under the able leadership of Omar Abdullah Sahab, will implement the manifesto to take the state out of its development inertia," Sagar, who represents Srinagar’s Hazratbal constituency, told ETV Bharat.
Darbar Move, though, has not been officially closed by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha's administration, as administrative secretaries and employees based in the Jammu region operate from the Jammu office of the Secretariat, while employees based in the Kashmir valley work from the Srinagar wing of the Secretariat.
The LG administration in 2021 had closed down the practice of transporting employees, files, and logistics in hundreds of trucks between Srinagar and Jammu capitals after the implementation of e-offices and file systems in the top bureaucracy office.
However, the decision of the LG was protested by political parties and Jammu-based traders who said their business incurred losses as employees and their families stopped travelling to Jammu during the winter months.
The practice of Darbar Move was started by Dogra ruler Maharaja Hari Singh more than a century ago when he shifted his office for six months to Jammu in winter and six months to Srinagar, the two capitals of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
The traders in Jammu even today are seeking its revival to carry on the Dogra rulers' legacy for their economic activity.
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