| Unity between Azad, Soz a distant goal | | Eid, Diwali-Gurupurab Milan | | Neha
Jammu, Nov 7: The Jammu Lawyers under the leadership of its president BS Slathia yesterday organized very impressive Eid, Diwali and Gurupurab Milan at Hari Niwas Palace. Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad was the chief guest. Those who attended the function included galaxy of intellectuals, political leaders, prominent citizens and people from all walks of society. Prominent, among others, who attended the function included Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, Minister for Public Enterprises Peerzada Mohammad Syeed, Minister for PHE Taj Mohi-ud-Din, Minister for Medical and Technical Education R.S. Chib, Minister of State for Haj and Auqaf Ajaz Ahmed Khan, Political Advisor to Chief Minister Devinder Singh Rana, Member Parliament Ch. Lal Singh, MLA Jammu West constituency Prof. Chaman Lal Gupta, Ex-Minister and former Political Advisor to Ghulam Nabi Azad Janak Raj Gupta, Divisional Commissioner Jammu, senior advocate and former Advocate General D C Raina, presidents Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Trade, president Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee, president State Akali Dal, president Rajput Sabha, VHP leader Rama Kant Dubey, Panun Kashmir leader Ajay Chrungoo and State BJP chief spokesperson Dr Jitendra Singh.
On the occasion, Ghulam Nabi Azad, who had come all the way from Delhi to Jammu, honoured various social activists, advocates, political leaders and prominent citizens for their "exceptional" contribution to the society. They included former Deputy Chief Minister and Congress veteran Mangat Ram Sharma, Balwant Thakur, State President Gandhi Global Family S.P. Verma, Advocate S.S. Anand, Dr. Ashok Vaid, Rani Baloria, First Lady Deputy Mayor, Haji Ghulam Mohd. Ansari, Senior Advocate, J&K High Court, Surinder Kour, Thupstan Chogyal from Ladakh Heart Foundation Hospital and Research Centre, Leh and historian and columnist Prof Hari Om.
What was notable was the composition of the gathering at the venue. Besides, intellectuals, prominent citizens, leaders of social groups and representatives of business and industry and a large number of political activists, the number of those who belong to the Azad camp, were present in strength. But those belonging to the JKPCC president Saif-ud-din Soz's group were conspicuous by their absence. There was hardly any JKPCC office-bearer present on the occasion, despite the fact that the organizers of the function, according to an insider, had distributed "30 invitation cards" among those controlling the organization. As for Soz, he was not in Jammu; he was in Srinagar.
That not a single supporter of Soz and that not a single JKPCC officer-bearer who belong to the Soz camp turned up for the function was yet another indication that the two main factions could not work together, despite instructions from the party high command to the contrary. A few days ago, some media reports had suggested that the Congress high command had directed the State Congress leaders, including Soz and Azad, to work as one man and consolidate and expand further the party's support base across the State. But the composition of the yesterday's gathering at the Eid, Diwali and Gurupurav Milan left none in any doubt that the unity efforts initiated by the party high command had failed to produce the desired results and that the unity between the Soz and Azad camp is a distant goal. |
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