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| Legislators from Doda, Kishtwar, Ramban up in arms | | Lop-Sided Ministry | | Neha
JAMMU, Nov 14: An important development took place in the state last Sunday. The case in point is the boycott by all the six legislators - five MLAs and one MLC - of the Congress Legislature Party meet, held in Jammu under the president-ship of JKPCC president Saif-ud-Din Soz. They boycotted the crucial meet to register their protest against what they called "total neglect of the three districts -- Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban -- by the part by not giving representation to them in the Council of Ministers". Those who boycotted included MLAs from Bhaderwah, Doda, Ramban, Banihal and Inderwal and from Bhaderwah, all Ghulam Nabi Azad's loyalists.
Their basic grievance was that it was the erstwhile Doda district which elected five out of six Congress candidates who contested the last Assembly elections and that they were rigorously excluded from the Council of Ministers, thus according a shabby treatment to the erstwhile Doda district. They also, in a way, resented the inclusion of all the Congress MLAs from Jammu district in the Council of Ministers. The number of Assembly seats that the Congress captured from Jammu province was 13. The Congress had captured five seats from the erstwhile Doda district, three from Jammu district and one each from Udhampur, Kathua, Poonch, Rajouri and Reasi districts in 2008. Jammu Province returns 37 legislators to the 87-member Legislative Assembly.
As said, the Congress had captured three Assembly seats in Jammu district in 2008. These included Gandhi Nagar, Akhnoor and Khour. Gandhi Nagar electorate elected Raman Bhalla and he was inducted in the Council of Ministers as Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation Minister with Cabinet rank. The Akhnoor electorate elected Sham Lal Sharma, brother of Madan Lal Sharma, and he was inducted as Health and Floriculture Minister with Cabinet rank. The Khour electorate elected former Speaker Tara Chand and he was inducted in the Ministry as Deputy Chief Minister. Besides them, MLC R S Chib, who also belongs to Jammu district, was also inducted in the Council of Ministers as Medical education and Sports Minister. And only recently, another Jammu-based MLC Amrit Malhotra was elevated to the position of Chairman of Jammu & Kashmir Legislative Council. Those elected from Rajouri, Kathua and Reasi districts were also inducted in the Council of Minister as Ministers of State.
That the legislators from the erstwhile Doda district resented excessive representation to Jammu district in general and Akhnoor tehsil in particular could be seen from what one of them said. He said: "A small tehsil of Akhnoor has four major representatives from the Congress, including Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, Health Minister Sham Lal Sharma, Member Parliament Madan Lal Sharma and Vice Chairman of Backward Classes development Board Kuldip Verma, who also enjoys the status of Minister of State". He also reportedly resented the induction of all other Jammu MLAs and MLCs in the Council of Ministers".
What the agitated legislators from Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban districts said could not be contested. For, what they said was based on the ground realities and one of the ground realities is that the Council of Ministers has excessive representation from one district. Their boycott of the Congress Legislature Part meet needs to be viewed in this context. They are right when they demand representation in the Council of ministers for the constituencies they represent. They are also right when they say that all the districts must get proper representation in the Council of Ministers. Their concerns need to be addressed.
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