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| Ministers, workers are logger heads | | Congress down and out | | Neha
JAMMU, July 21: What happened during the Congress' convention in Jammu on July 19 under the very nose of senior Congress leaders, including Ambika Soni, Saif-ud-Din Soz and Ghulam Nabi Azad, was not a normal development. What happened during the convention was nothing but a sort of massive revolt against the Congress Ministers from Jammu province, including Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, Minister for PHE Sham Lal Sharma, Minister for Housing, Horticulture and Sports Raman Bhalla, Minister In-charge Cooperatives Manohar Lal Sharma, Minister In-charge Revenue Ajaz Khan and Minister in-charge Technical Education, Power and RDD Vikar Rasool, and vote of no confidence in the Omar Abdullah-led coalition Government.
It was a revolt in the sense that most of those who addressed the convention or spoke drew the attention of Soni, Soz and Azad to the gross indiscipline in the party, massive corruption and complete neglect of party workers and cadres by the Ministers. They didn't name any Minister, but it was clear that they were their targets. They also accused the party leadership of not implementing the party agenda and manifesto and charged all those who mattered with ignoring the refugee issue and interests of Jammu region and not doing anything to get the elected panchayats empowered. They also took on the Ministers saying they neither allowed them to their offices or official residences nor listened to them and their grievances. So much so that they warned the party leadership that the circumstance were such that party workers might not be able to campaign for the party in the coming Assembly elections. "The corrupt elements should be thrown out of the party and new candidates with clean image should be fielded in the coming elections, if the party wants to put up a good show" some of the agitated speakers said. One youth Congress leader openly said that there was a deep-rooted corruption in the party and "for the transfers in various departments lakhs of rupees are exchanged". "Those who are corrupt should not be given chance to contest elections. Only honest and persons with clean image and impeccable record should be given the mandate," the said youth leader said. One senior woman PCC leader went to the extent of saying that women workers are "not respected" in the party and the Ministers and some senior party leaders do not treat women workers "properly". Not just this, she asserted that many a Minister are for "self" and they don't listen to and respect the party workers. She didn't just stop there. She went on to urge the party leadership to announce the names of the party candidates at the earliest so that the corrupt elements and opportunists in the party get time to join other political parties. Significantly, the top Congress leaders didn't react to what the dejected party workers, including some marginalized party leaders, said about the state of affairs in the party, as also about the Ministers and their attitude and conduct. They didn't intervene on behalf of the under-attack Ministers and certain party leaders; they only said that they were there only to listen to them. In a way, they sided with the party workers by not coming to rescue of the under-attack Ministers. Meanwhile, two-time former MP Choudhary Lal Singh has quit the Congress party lambasting Azad. Talking to ABP News today, he accused Azad of terrorizing everyone in the Congress party and said it had become impossible for him to remain with the party as he had been feeling suffocated from quite sometime. "Azad stabbed me from the back," he also said.
This is the state of affairs in the party at this crucial juncture. The Assembly elections are just round the corner. The indiscipline in the party has assumed alarming proportions. Some of the top party leaders are conducting themselves as factional leaders. Some want the high command to declare Azad as Chief Ministerial candidate, while others oppose the suggestion. There is total disconnect between the Ministers, the party and the cadres. The workers are a dejected lot. They are so frustrated and dejected that they are not in a mood to work for the party. The UPA is also out of power at the centre. In fact, things are not at all under control. There is hardly any leader in the state Congress who could galvanize the party and inspire the party workers. It's free for all in the Congress. It would be proper to say that the Congress party in the state, like other parts of the country, is not just down but also virtually out. Significantly, the story the Congress' coalition partner, the NC, is also no different. It has also lost credibility and it is controlled by those who have no contact with the people at the grassroot level. |
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