15-member all-party team visiting J&K to diffuse tension

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Even as it virtually ruled out the resignation of Jammu and Kashmir Governor NN Vohra, the government has decided to send a 15-member all-party delegation headed to the state to talk to agitators and defuse the situation in the wake of the Amarnath land row. The team is likely to be headed by home minister Shivraj Patil.

That Vohra was unlikely to be made the fall guy was evident when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, at the all-party meet on Wednesday, rejected suggestions that he meet members of the Shri Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti. The PM was firm that they would have to meet Governor Vohra, who was the representative of the Centre, government managers said. At the Wednesday meeting, the BJP demanded the ouster of the governor with party president Rajnath Singh accusing him of acting independently, without consulting members of the shrine board. Government managers, however, asserted that a rejig of the Shrine board, however, would be effected after consultations with Samiti members.

The all-party delegation, whose composition is still being finalised, will be visiting Srinagar first and then make their way to Jammu where they will hold dialogue with those agitating for revocation of land to the Amarnath Shrine board.

The BJP on its part, held a meeting of its top leaders on Thursday and decided to go ahead with the three day all India agitation on the issue from August 11. Sources, however, said that while the BJP was pressing ahead with its agitation, the all-party meeting did help in removing misperceptions on both sides and acknowledge the need to work towards resolving the problem. They conceded that parties did use the occasion to target its rivals—for instance, Farooq Abdullah launched an attack on the PDP while the Shiv Sena put both the BJP as well as the Congress on the firing line. In the end, however, they agreed on a common statement, which was drafted separately in an ante room by a smaller team including senior leader Mukherjee, CPI(M)’s Sitaram Yechury, BJP’s Arun Jaitley.