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| Tariq Karra does a Kamaal in PDP | | |
Peerzada Ummer
Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, July 3: In 2013 when PDP castigated NC for mandating Mustafa Kamaal, uncle of Omar Abdullah (then Chief Minister), to issue bizarre statements, little would have the Muftis imagined that soon they will have to deal with a Kamaal in their ranks.
As times have changed and tables have turned around with the formation of PDP-BJP government in the state, another Mustafa Kamaal is in the making, and this time he is none other than PDP's MP Tariq Hameed Karra.
When the Centre recently announced a Rs 1600 flood relief package, Karra came out in the open, terming the package 'meagre and condemnable.' Even at the time when government was about to complete 100 days in office, Karra shook everyone by asking his party to re-consider its decision to stay in alliance with the BJP.
Though there were no takers for Karra's statement in the PDP, it did send a wrong signal among the workers, according to a party source. "It even made several office bearers of the party to discuss what the situation on ground is," the source said, adding that the party was perturbed due to the fact that it might create chaos within masses about the nature of coalition.
Later, on June 26, when protests broke out at Srinagar's Jamia Masjid after police fired teargas canisters into the mosque, Karra was the first to condemn the attack and pitched for action against the erring cops.
"Being an MP from the ruling party, Karra should have refrained from attacking the government over such an issue that too when facts were yet to be ascertained. We really wonder whether Karra is part of a ruling party or hails from the opposition camp," a PDP leader told Early Times.
Senior PDP leader and Education Minister Naeem Akhtar Andrabi has distanced his party and the government from Karra's statements, saying "Karra is a senior leader and has his own opinion." What remains to be seen is who among the PDP leaders is with Karra.
Karra, who came into limelight by successfully contesting the state elections in 2002, managed his entry into the ranks of the council of ministers in PDP-Congress regime. But in 2008, stars seemed not in his favour and he lost his Batamaloo seat to to NC's Irfan Shah.
2014 Lok Sabha saw a new turn in Karra's political career. He cashed in on the anti-incumbency factor, attacking NC's turbulent rule and taking Srinagar Lok Sabha seat in his kitty. "Mufti sahib was confidant of north and south Kashmir. Srinagar was among the least probabilities," is how Mufti's close aides portrayed the pre-election scene within the PDP camp.
But Karra dazzled everyone, including himself by managing a victory during the parliament polls. "Even Karra himself was not confidant that he would win against Dr Farooq in Srinagar. It was PDP's Khurshid Alam who convinced Karra that his win is possible," one of the party workers said.
Meanwhile, after PDP won 28 seats during the state polls of 2014 including five out of eight Srinagar seats, Karra kept his fingers crossed. "In fact it was Karra who opened party's account in Srinagar city. PDP had not even managed a single seat during the 2008 polls. It was only after Karra's win that the workers and the party became optimistic about assembly election results," the PDP worker said.
"But when Karra's space was chocked by the party itself, his reactions to the most subtle issues pertaining to the state became natural," he added. |
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