New Delhi, January 3
The Vajpayee government will, later this month, appoint new Governors in six states, including Jammu and Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Manipur and the union territory of Delhi.

According to well-placed sources here, there has been a certain amount of delay in this exercise because of differing views between the Centre and Jammu and Kashmir Government on who should replace Governor Girish Saxena who has expressed a desire to be relieved of the job because of his indifferent health.

Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah is understood to be in favour of former top spymaster A.S. Dulat becoming the new Governor of the state, but the Centre appears to be more interested in former Army Chief S.F. Rodrigues. Another view of the government is to bring a political person rather than a security or intelligence man as the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir.

It is understood that the issue of the new J & K Governor and the candidature of Mr Dulat were discussed at one of the meetings of the Cabinet Committee on Security after the December 13 terrorist attack on Parliament House.

Mr Dulat, who is at present an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), has been a hardcore intelligence man and among the few who have served in top positions of both of the premier intelligence agencies of the country — Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). He was the RAW chief and a key player in the aborted ceasefire of the Hizbul Mujahideen last year.

While the Chief Minister is reportedly pressing for Mr Dulat’s appointment in view of the current delicate security situation in the state, the Vajpayee government is sensitive to certain operational problems which might arise in the event of Mr Dulat’s elevation as Governor.

Mr Dulat’s name was also considered for the post of Tamil Nadu Governor, but the Centre had to drop it as AIADMK supremo Jayalalitha shot down the proposal.

Delhi Lieut-Governor Vijay Kapoor is now being considered for elevation and the gubernatorial job in Tamil Nadu.

Mr M.B. Kaushal, the only IPS officer ever to have risen to the rank of full Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, is tipped to replace Mr Kapoor in Delhi. Mr Kaushal retired three days back.

Another significant decision may be the recall of Governor Prabhat Kumar from Chhattisgarh in view of the Flex company controversy. The Centre has taken note of reports that the Flex company had paid bills of some parties hosted by Mr Prabhat Kumar at his residence as Cabinet Secretary of the Centre.