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| 'Opportunistic' Omar wants Congress to facilitate his dad's entry into Rajya Sabha | | Leaves Azad in lurch, forgets party fulfilled his wish to rule JK for 6-yrs | | Kunal Shrivatsa
ET Report
JAMMU, Jan 22: Fate of senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha hangs in balance as the former chief minister Omar Abdullah today hinted that his ailing father, Dr Farooq Abdullah, who recently underwent kidney transplantation surgery in London, could be the National Conference candidate for the forthcoming RS polls.
Omar while responding to a tweet by a journalist that Congress veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad has chance of getting re-elected to Upper House from Jammu and Kashmir if National Conference supports him, Omar replied, "And what of Dr (Farooq) Abdullah's chances if Congress supports him?."
Omar's comments have come at a time when neither NC nor Congress could afford any further animosity between them, the political observers viewed former CM's remarks on Rajya Sabha polls as an act of leaving in lurch the man (Azad) who acted as an intermediary between the two parties when they were ruling the state from 2009 to 2014.
Political observers said that it was Azad who ensured that NC-Congress coalition complete its full term. He (Azad) kept situation under control and prevailed upon the state Congress leaders to allow Omar led government function smoothly.
An analyst while talking to Early Times said, "When situation turned from bad to worse in 2010 in Kashmir due to large scale incidents of stone pelting and deaths of more than hundred civilians in security forces firing, it was on Azad's insistence that the Congress led UPA government backed Omar Abdullah in dealing with the situation and didn't withdrew support to his government."
"Instead of lending a helping hand to Ghulam Nabi Azad in this hour of crisis, as he would lose the status of Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Omar Abdullah seems to have turned his back towards him by suggesting that Congress should support his father (Dr Farooq) to facilitate his entry into the upper house of Parliament. It is plain opportunism as Azad stood like rock behind Omar during his six year tenure," the analyst added.
Another political observer said that Azad winning the RS polls is not the matter of prestige only for him but also for the All India Congress Committee President Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi who nominated Azad as the leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha after Congress lost the parliamentary polls last year. "By hinting that his father could contest the RS polls Omar has shown that he is least bothered about the prestige of those people too who fulfilled his wish to rule JK and become the youngest chief minister in India," the observer added.
"Omar always looked towards Congress led UPA government as and when he found himself in a tight spot or crisis situation… It was Azad, who acted like a coolant as and when there was some sort of bitterness between leaders of the two parties particularly the Congress ministers in the Omar cabinet who felt discontented on several decisions," he said.
Though stakes are high for the Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP), the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), the National Conference (NC) and the Congress but for the NC and Congress are caught in a tricky situation as they are not in a position to win a single seat owing to their depleted strength in the State Legislative Assembly.
They (NC-Congress), however, have a bleak chance of clinching one seat but that proposition is possible only if the two former alliance partners lend support to each other and field a common candidate.
Pertinently, NC has 15 MLAs and Congress 12 and with the support of three or four Independent MLAs, they can send one representative to the Rajya Sabha even if PDP-BJP join hands. |
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