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| Handshake with rebel BJP MLAs; Omar does what Sheikh, Farooq did | | | Syed Junaid Hashmi
JAMMU, Nov 30: By shaking hands with seven rebel BJP MLAs, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has repeated what the tallest National Confe-rence (NC) late Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah and his son, Dr.Farooq Abdullah did during their respective tenures as heads of the government in Jammu and Kashmir.
According to newspaper reports, Omar had a few days back invited the seven BJP MLAs to his residence and asked them to support candidates put up by Congress-National Conference (NC) combine. Though Political Advisor to CM, Devinder Rana later denied these reports and stated that the seven MLAs had met Chief Minister Omar Abdullah but he had never asked them to extend support to candidates put by the National Conference (NC)-Cong-ress combine.
Though issued timely but this clarifcation failed to dispel the impression that seven BJP rebels were not with NC. Ground reports clearly indicate that NC is being aided and abetted by rebel BJP MLAs. For observers, the relationship is continuation of what elders in NC have done in the past. Tallest NC leader and grandfather of Omar, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah extended supprt to the RSS backed candidate in 1980 for the elections of Jammu Muncipal Corporation (JMC).
Sheikh not only aligned with RSS backed Bhar-atiya Janata Party but also defended the same in public. More so, this stalwart of National Confe-rence preferred alliance with Sangh Parivar over extending support to an Independent candidate backed up by Congress, merely for teaching Congress a lesson for having ditched him earlier.
A peep into the past reveals that elections were held for the Jammu Municipal Council on April 10, 1980. The then Director Municipal town area elections Hakim Said-ud-din declared the results on April 11, 1980 annouuncing that BJP had won 11 of the 23 seats followed by Congress (7), National Conference (4) and a solitary seat had gone to an Independent Amolak Singh.
Late Sheikh Abdullah on April 19, 1980; when the council was going to elect its president and vice-president, asked his corporators to vote for BJP backed candidate Ved Prakash Bajaj. He was an ardent RSS man. Congress had put up Amolak Singh, an Independent with the hope that National Conference under late Sheikh Abdullah will vote for him. Bajaj got 15 votes, 11 of his party and four of National Conference against the eight polled for Congress sponsored candidate.
Ved Prakash Bajaj was elected as President of the Council while Dina Nath Sharma was chosen as vice-president of the council. Sheikh followed this by an anti-Congress speech wherein he had called the leaders of Congress as "Tigdambaz (tricksters)" and mad for power. He described the then BJP leaders as his own Kith and Kin. Sheikh had said "what was wrong in cooperating with the Sangh? After all, they are also citizens of this country and have been elected by the people. They are not "Rakhshas (demons)" but our kith and kin. By coming together, we would be able to understand each other better and the clouds of misunderstanding could be removed."
This was carried forward by his son, Dr.Farooq Abdullah, who extended support to BJP led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) after it came to power in the year 1998. Farooq's NC led government passed an autonomy resolution in the legislative assembly and sent it to New Delhi. BJP led NDA government consigned it to dustbin and preferred not to even look at the document.
By reviving a relationship with BJP, observers opine that NC has simply returned to roots. "They can do anything to remain power. You talk of BJP, they can shake hands with anyone to remain in power. History is replete with several instances of NC having compromised even with its ideological beliefs to stay in power," added a political commentator.
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