Srinagar: Will there be a renewed push by the BJP for government formation in Jammu and Kashmir after the appointment of Satya Pal Malik as governor of the restive state?While the Centre’s decision to shift the 72-year-old Malik from Patna Raj Bhavan to J&K came as a surprise to political parties in J&K, analysts believe the removal of N.N. Vohra – who has been constitutional head for more than a decade – may be a prelude to renewed efforts at government formation in the state with the Bharatiya Janata Party trying to assemble a working majority in the 89-seat assembly.Relations between the Centre and Vohra had become strained after the latter expressed his reservations over how the Modi government was handling the challenge to Article 35A of the constitution and sought deferment in the hearing of a plea seeking its abrogation in the Supreme Court till J&K has an elected government in place.Vohra was reportedly also not in favour of the formation of another government in the state amid reports that the BJP was trying to split its former ally PDP to return to power in J&K.Speaking to The Wire, commentator Noor M. Baba said that J&K was not a ‘normal state’ and in the recent years, violence here has only gone up. “Given this situation, if you [the Centre] wanted to continue with governor’s rule there was no one best suited for the job than [Vohra]. By replacing him, the message is clear – the BJP has now shifted focus to government formation in J&K,” he added.There is also a buzz in political circles in Kashmir that the BJP was waiting for the Amarnath Yatra to end before pushing for returning to power in the state. The yatra will conclude on August 27. “The appointment of a new governor could well be first step of that process,” said Baba.A politician with a socialist rather than Sangh parivar background, Malik joined the BJP only in 2004 and was appointed governor of Bihar in October last year. He has served as Union minister of state, parliamentary affairs and tourism and has held the post of national vice-president BJP. He is arguably the first career politician to be appointed as J&K governor.The first governor of the state was Karan Singh, scion of the erstwhile royal family. After him, Bhagwan Sahay, who became governor in 1967, was a career bureaucrat; and every governor since then has come either from the bureaucracy, the military or the intelligence services.A senior bureaucrat, who has worked closely with Vohra said if the Centre planned to have a prolonged spell of governor’s rule in J&K they would have picked an administrator and not a politician as governor. “I won’t speculate how long it will take for government formation, but this (appointment of Malik) is a step in that direction.”Besides, he said, Vohra’s second term as governor had already ended and the BJP would have preferably wanted its man at the highest position in J&K.After the BJP pulled out of the coalition with the PDP to bring down the Mehbooba Mufti-led government in J&K on June 19, talks about formation of a new government in the state started doing rounds. These talks gained ground after five PDP MLAs led by former minister and influential Shia leader Imran Raza Ansari openly rebelled against Mehbooba, accusing her of nepotism.On July 13, these rebel MLAs while addressing the media claimed that a “silent majority” within PDP was supporting them and ready to be part of new government. This new political formation, which the BJP is believed to have encouraged, is likely to see the party’s ally Sajad Lone play a key role. “We have more than the required numbers and we will cross the bridge when it comes,” said one of the rebel PDP members.A senior politician who was a minister in the previous government said things may become clearer now. “But I will be surprised if there is no movement in coming days towards government formation,” he said, insisting that he not to be named.Another analyst, the academic Siddiq Wahid, said there were two aspects to the present political situation in J&K. “It (government formation) is purely a question of numbers. If you look at it logically, they (the BJP) don’t have the numbers. But this party has not always gone by logic when they wanted to acquire power. They have a record of many things like what they did recently in Manipur and Goa to grab power,” he added.The BJP with 25 MLAs would require another 19 legislators to form the government. It has the support of Lone and his MLA from Kupwara. Besides, there are five PDP rebel members.“But where do they have the numbers?” he asked. “If they want to do anything in the state they can do it through the governor as well without involving a second or third party,” he said.The present J&K assembly will complete its term towards the end of 2020 and keeping the house in suspended animation for so long is highly unlikely. Exercising this option would bring the state directly under president’s rule once the six-months term for governor’s rule ends in December this year.Another option for the Centre was to go in for simultaneous general elections and state polls in J&K in April-May. That would mean the state coming under presidential rule for a few months. But the Centre won’t prefer to have a political vacuum in the state for a long time as it “could widen the disconnect and further alienate people”.“Also, Delhi would be aware of the fallout of such a move. Last time, it took the Centre more than six years to have a government in place when the state was placed under president’s rule in 1990,” said Baba, adding that the inability of the government to conduct elections to the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat and reconstitute panchayats and urban local bodies is not a good omen for future stability.