Hyder Ali
Early Times Report
Srinagar, Apr 5: Even as a war of words has erupted between senior PDP leader Altaf Bukhari and his veteran colleague in the party, Tariq Hameed Karra, the question remains why the former alone was dropped from the council of ministers if he was not the only leader under the scanner.
On the day when Mehbooba Mufti was sworn in as Chief Minister, PDP stalwart and one of the founding members of the party - Karra -equated three of his party colleagues with renegades, the Ikhwanis. The old guard, Karra said the trio is "contemporary Kukka Parray", and asked the party president Mehbooba Mufti not to incorporate any of them in the council of ministers.
But then why Bukhari became the "scapegoat" of party politics, when there was general resentment against other two but not him? This question is doing the rounds in the political circles, where it emerges that Bukhari's sudden rise to fame in Kashmir politics proved costly for him as his individual prominence was being seen as a potential threat.
While another minister, an MLC, often allegedly hated by the grassroots and enjoys little or no public support, the other minster lacks public footage.
On April 4, soon after Mehbooba's coronation, Karra told media persons that one of the top minister's in Mehbooba's cabinet won the assembly seat only because of the personal role played by Mehbooba Mufti and a youth PDP leader.
But on the other hand Bukhari emerged as a popular voice among the PDP grassroots in Srinagar, the district otherwise seen as National Conference (NC) stronghold.
In less than a year of wining the elections and being given the charge of R&B minister, Bukhari became a household name among the mainstream political ranks not only in his Amira Kadal constituency but elsewhere including old city, which happens to fort of NC veterans like Ali Muhammad Sagar, Mubarak Gul and Shamima Firdous.
A business tycoon-turned-politician, Bukhari's visits to old city areas where PDP was struggling for existence till last year, had started fetching him prominence.
But apart from making way into NC strongholds, he was equally known in constituencies like Hazratbal and Batamaloo, which are with the Karra loyalists. While MLA Hazratbal, Asiya Naqash happens to be Karra's sister-in-law, a contractor-turned-politician MLA Batamaloo Noor Muhammad has been his former assistant.
Till 2014, if PDP had any major influence in Srinagar, the district blessed with eight assembly seats, it was mostly through Karra. But Bukhari's electoral win changed the tables. Bukhari emerged as Karra's contender.
His key to prominence in Srinagar remained the massive macadamization of the roads. As already reported by Early Times, despite having minimal budgetary allocations, he got over Rs 500 Crore spent on the blacktopping in the summer capital alone.
It has been understood that Bukhari took the risk on massive expenditure without requisite approval only because he was close to the late Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed. Bukhari was often termed as the member of "Kitchen Cabinet" in Mufti's family. Amid this patronage from PDP's first family and the prominence he was gaining, insiders said, his rivals took Bukhari as an indispensible voice, who could prove a threat any day.
Add to this, his personal relationship with the separatist camps. Last year, when Bukhari's mother-in-law passed away, apart from others, Hurriyat leaders like Shahid Ul Islam were present in the funeral. And, the separatists didn't hesitate to share with media persons that "Bukhari is our very good friend."
The cynics, within the PDP started looking at his meteoric rise as a threat to the party existence. What if Bukhari, who enjoys spectrum of influence, parts ways from PDP to be a rival voice? This, as per the party insiders, was a big question, which kept haunting many.
While a lobby of leaders was already against this "fresher getting undue patronage", some government officials who were loyal to tp others, equally intrigued against him through bad-mouthing.
Amid this rise in hatred, the last nail in the coffin came when Karra recently told the party leadership that Bukhari, and two others could attempt coup and that they should be kept away.
But while two others were not seen as potential threat, and were subsequently given portfolios, Bukhari's meteoric rise cost him the second innings. |
