When Vinai Kumar Saxena was appointed as the Lieutenant Governor (L-G) of Ladakh, he first moved to improve relations between the Lok Bhawan and the Apex Body Leh (ABL) as well as people of the Union Territory.

Saxena took a series of confidence-building measures to mend these ties, strained during the tenure of BJP leader Kavinder Gupta as the previous Ladakh L-G.

While the steps taken by Saxena were seen as showing some positive results, his latest social media post after a meeting with climate activist and ABL member Sonam Wangchuk may rekindle conflict between the ABL and Lok Bhawan, resulting in an adverse impact on the High Powered Committee’s talks that saw significant progress during the May 22 meeting, when the Centre and the Ladakhi representatives reached an “in-principle understanding on restoring democracy in Ladakh” and providing “Constitutional safeguards on the lines of Article 371 A, F, and G”.

Saxena’s post about a private meeting with Wangchuk has put him on a collision path with a key member of the ABL. After meeting Wangchuk, the L-G said he had a “candid” exchange against the backdrop of “constructive dialogue” between the Centre and Ladakh’s representatives.

“We agreed that an air of positivity, both in terms of development initiatives and political dialogue, needs to be maintained,” Saxena said.

While the L-G talked of positivity, his next remark rankled Wangchuk. Saxena said that he “cautioned Shri Wangchuk to abjure from weaving a misleading and provocative narrative, which vitiates public discourse” – a reference to Wangchuk’s “honorary cockroach” remark.

“Democratic expression must not be taken as license for fabricating falsehoods and rabble rousing,” Saxena posted. “He (Wangchuk) accepted that comparing the situation of Ladakh with Manipur was an error of judgment. He also said that he was unsure of the origins of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) and would study the motivations of its founders and revisit his stand, if necessary.”

The comments didn’t go down well with Wangchuk. Though he initially preferred silence, he later said he was “surprised” by the L-G’s comments.

“During our meeting, he (Saxena) brought up his concerns around the CJP… He said the CJP is a foreign conspiracy with fewer members from India than from abroad, that they were being run from Pakistan, Bangladesh and America,” Wangchuk said. “I informed him that I consider this (CJP) a creative expression and the government should not feel insecure about it, but should hear them out. What the L-G didn’t realise was that he was saying these things to the person who had been arrested under the National Security Act (NSA) about eight months back on similar charges. Similar stories were constructed about my ‘links’ with Pakistan, China or the Soros foundation.”

When Saxena took over as L-G in March this year, he set out to undo the “damage” caused by the strained relations between Ladakhi representatives and his predecessor Kavinder Gupta.

During Gupta’s tenure, the relations were strained to a point where not only did the ABL stop participating in meetings with him, but there was also a communication breakdown between the two sides.

The Ladakhi leadership saw Saxena’s appointment as a “confidence-building measure” from the Centre.

Saxena too worked to build relations with the Ladakhi people and their leadership and took a slew of confidence-building measures – like the creation of five new districts, extension of land leases, relaxation of age requirements in police recruitment and a developmental push.

Saxena also managed to resolve an impending crisis over the “privatisation” of electricity in Ladakh, saying no such proposal is in the offing.

These measures helped create an atmosphere of trust ahead of the crucial talks between Centre and Ladakh on May 22 and were complemented by the significant progress made in that meeting.

However, the latest social media post by the L-G, making public what transpired during a private meeting, may have adverse effects on the dialogue process if steps are not taken to maintain trust between the two sides.