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Union Home Minister L K Advani's impending meeting with Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah and Governor G C Saxena to devise a strategy to deal with the militancy menace in an indication of the diminishing role of the prime minister's office in the affairs of the troubled state.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) parliamentary spokesman V K Malhotra pointed out that it was Advani who had summoned the meeting in the wake of the recent killings in the Kishtwar and Doda regions of Jammu.
With Advani refusing to play second fiddle to the PMO in handling Kashmir affairs, PMO officials, especially Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's principal secretary Brajesh Mishra, seem to have taken a back seat in the matter.
Malhotra indicated that Advani had personally sent his junior minister I D Swami to the state to ascertain the situation. Special Secretary (Kashmir affairs) in the Ministry of Home Affairs Ashok Bhandari had accompanied Swami.
Advani's assertion of 'appropriate response to the killing by the militants' is being seen in government circles as the strengthening of his grip on Kashmir affairs at the expense of the PMO.
"If the government is talking in terms of a pro-active policy in Kashmir, it cannot be blamed. Although we support talks with Pakistan, the time has come for responding in the desired fashion - an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. If need be, we will give them (Pakistan) a bloody nose," averred former BJP spokesman Union Minister for Rural Development Venkaiah Naidu.
Significantly, it was the Union home minister who put his foot down at Agra when the proposed joint declaration was being formulated.
However, Advani's objection eventually saw the Vajpayee-Musharraf talks end without any tangible result.
Although both sides later asserted that the Indo-Pak dialogue could not be termed unsuccessful, Opposition parties sank their differences to launch a frontal assault on the prime minister.
Ever since and without mincing words, Advani has consolidated his hold on Kashmir affairs even as PMO officials were relegated to the background.
Significantly, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Chamanlal Gupta, who was elected from Jammu constituency, is reported to have angrily demanded the resignation of the J&K chief minister for the latter's alleged role in shifting some security personnel, which resulted in the killings of Amarnath yatris (pilgrims).
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