Repeal ‘Darbar Move’, say BJP leaders

Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Speaker describes the practice ‘costly for the State exchequer’

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday floated the idea of abrogation of the 146-year-old Dogra-era practice of ‘Darbar Move’, under which the State’s civil secretariat shuttles between summer capital Srinagar and winter capital Jammu bi-annually.

Senior BJP leader Kavinder Gupta, also J&K Assembly Speaker, and party spokesman Virendra Gupta have called for “bifurcation of the offices”.

“The practice of ‘Darbar Move’ should be abandoned. There should be bifurcation of the State offices,” State BJP spokesperson Virender Gupta was quoted as saying in Jammu.

Mr. Gupta’s stand was seconded by the Speaker who described the practice “costly for the State exchequer”. “It was a compulsion in the past because of poor means of transportation and communication,” said the Speaker.

However, BJP J&K president Sat Sharma described the stand of two senior BJP leaders as “their own stand”.

Introduced in 1872

It’s not for the first time that the practice, introduced by Maharaja Gulab Singh in 1872, has come under criticism. In 2012, former chief minister and National Conference working president Omar Abdullah too raised questions on continuing with the practice.

However, ruling Peoples Democratic Party patron Mufti Muhammad Sayeed saw the ‘Darbar Move’ as “a bridge between diverse regions of Kashmir Valley and Jammu plains”.

“If the BJP is serious about bifurcating the offices, let it come up with a proposal,” said Congress spokesman Ravinder Sharma.

Every year, over 7,000 employees of the civil secretariat shuttle between Srinagar and Jammu along with the files, which are ferried in buses and tracks. It costs the State over ₹40 crore.