Srinagar/ New Delhi: Jammu and Kashmir governor N.N. Vohra, who completes 10 years in office on June 25, took the state's reins for the fourth time in a decade on Wednesday.

Vohra, 82, the state's longest serving governor, is expected to stay on at least for another two months after his second five-year term expires because the Centre would not want to make any changes until after the Amarnath Yatra.

But sources said the Narendra Modi government has drawn up a list of probable candidates, including retired army officials who have served in the Valley and politicians with a strong RSS background, to succeed Vohra who was appointed in June 2008 by the UPA and is one of the few governors to have been retained by the NDA.

"Right now the Centre's main priority is to ensure fool-proof security for the pilgrims. Vohra has vast experience and is likely to get extension as he is also the head of the Amarnath Shrine Board. The new governor will be appointed only after the yatra," said a Union home ministry official. The annual pilgrimage begins on June 28.

Last year, eight pilgrims were killed in a terror attack.

On Wednesday, when governor's rule was announced, Vohra seemed firmly in the saddle. He cancelled all orders the Mehbooba Mufti government had issued on Tuesday, its last day in office. Vohra later held discussions with chief secretary B.B. Vyas and a security review meeting.

"(Vohra) identified the major tasks required to be dealt with on a strict time-bound basis, beginning from today," a spokesperson said.

In the evening, Vohra appointed B.V.R. Subrahmanyam as chief secretary and Vyas as an adviser to the governor. Vijay Kumar, a former IPS officer, was appointed as another adviser.

Vohra, a known Kashmir hand, had taken office when the state was under governor's rule in 2008 after widespread protests against the then Ghulam Nabi Azad government's decision to hand over a forest plot to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board.

Unlike his predecessor, General (retd) S.K. Sinha, whose five-year stint as governor sowed the seeds of a new wave of protests, Vohra is trusted by many in the state.

It was during his first term in 2008 that Assembly elections were held successfully under governor's rule, the massive participation of people taking many by surprise.

Vohra was also in charge in 2015 when Mufti Mohammad Sayeed took time to form a coalition with the BJP, and again in 2016 when Mehbooba was not forthcoming on continuing with the alliance after her father's death.

Former chief minister Omar Abdullah said he hoped Vohra would correct the "bad situation in the state". "I spent six years working with him. I trust his wisdom," he said.

Vohra, a former IAS officer, was the Centre's interlocutor on Kashmir from 2003 to 2008.

Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram said a "hawk" as governor would make the situation worse. "Who the next governor will be is crucial," he tweeted.

Among the names doing the rounds in Srinagar is Dineshwar Sharma, appointed last year as the Centre's interlocutor.

Army chief Bipin Rawat said on Wednesday governor's rule was unlikely to impact the ongoing military operations in the Valley. "There is no political interference on our part," he said in Delhi.