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| `NC-Cong honeymoon may benefit PDP' | | Azad averse to ‘grand-2014- alliance’ | | Bashir Assad
JAMMU, Dec 14: Even as 10-Janapath leaves little scope for State Congress units to take decisions on their own, the former Chief Minister and Union Health Minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad seems averse to having an alliance with the National Conference (NC) for the 2014 Assembly elections.
Interaction with a wide variety of insiders suggest although his role in decision making in regard to his home State (J&K) is muted and nuanced, Azad is very clear in perception that going for a pre-poll alliance with a very weak NC will prove detrimental to the party interests rather will be counterproductive in electoral politics.
Early Times learned from reliable sources that an ambitious Azad is not ready to form a pre-poll alliance with its coalition partner, the National Conference more so because he (Azad) is not willing to play second fiddle role in Government formation.
A very close friend of Azad while quoting his meeting with the latter on December 2- a day before the elections to the 4 reserved MLC seats were held in the State- said that Azad is very clear about going to the elections independently in the state and believes that NC has to face the anti-incumbency, particularly in the Valley while as Congress was more comfortable than ever before in Jammu region.
He said that though Azad was not sure as to how the Congress high command reacts to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's "grand-2014-alliance" theory, however, he was a strong votary of Congress party going to the general Assembly in 2014 on its own.
Azad's friend said that he was sure that Congress will improve its tally in Valley by atleast one or two seats besides retaining all the three presently represented by the party but at the same time has fears of losing some seats to the opposition in Jammu region.
According to him, Azad's assessment - while sensing the public mood- was that the only losers in the Assembly elections shall be the BJP and NC and as such forging a pre-poll alliance would mean surrendering the claim of being at number-1 position.
However, a senior Congress leader wishing anonymity today told Early Times that although NC was on a weak wicket, however, pre-poll alliance with that party will benefit Congress more than what it could achieve by going alone.
He said that if NC was facing erosion in Kashmir, Congress has some problems in Jammu region especially in Muslim pockets of erstwhile Doda, Poonch and Rajouri districts. The Congress leader was, however, quick to add that the final decision lies with the Congress high command. Whatever, the high command decides; we will go by it without wasting an iota of second.
The senior Congress leader, however, said that NC was facing much erosion and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's pre-poll alliance theory was an admission of that erosion.
Meanwhile, a senior PDP leader said that NC and Congress contesting elections together will be more beneficial to PDP, for, the party will be the only alternative left with the people. "We are not afraid, in fact it will benefit us because the only alternative left with you will be the PDP", he said and added that triangular contest is more difficult than the straight one.
On PDP's poor performance in MLC elections in South Kashmir, the PDP leader said, " it was by no means a poor performance, first elections to the panchayats were not held on party basis, so it was not clear who belongs to whom and second it was a contest between PDP and the State machinery".
He said that Panches and Sarpanches had no powers and from VLW to BDO to ACD, Director and to the Minister everybody was after these poor people. |
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