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| CM Omar drove Rahul's car in Amethi | | Political Exercise? | | Rustam
JAMMU, Dec 19: National Conference (NC) working president and Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who has been preparing ground for a pre-poll alliance with the Congress party to contest the 2014 Assembly elections jointly, as he is mortally afraid of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), yesterday visited Amethi. He accompanied AICC general secretary and AICC president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi's son Rahul Gandhi. In Amethi, Omar drove the car of the Congress' prince who will lead the Congress party from the front in the next general elections, which could take place anytime from now considering the kind of instability that has gripped the rag-tag UPA Government. Omar driving the Rahul's car was not an ordinary gesture; it was an extraordinary gesture hinting at the directions things may move in the State in the days to come.
The visit of Omar with Rahul to Amethi cannot be described as an ordinary development, though a PTI report has suggested that the J&K Chief Minister visited Amethi, Rahul's constituency, to "see how self-help groups work". "The two leaders (Rahul and Omar)…drove to Kasbapur village in Jais where Rahul is scheduled to attend a meeting of self-help women group. Rahul Gandhi and Omar Abdullah met members of women self-help groups here and asked them to make use of several schemes run by the Centre for improving their lot," the PTI report said, and added that "impressed with activities of the women groups, Omar said he would implement such programmes in J&K and, if required, take some people from here to train them". The report further said: "Rahul said when he went to J&K, Omar told him he wanted to see for himself what work the self-help groups were doing here. He has come here to see how the self-help groups work so that he can implement this programme in his State".
It is important to note that JKPCC president and former NC ideologue Saif-ud-Din Soz and in-charge of Congress affairs in J&K Mohan Prakash also accompanied Rahul and Omar. It would be foolish to conclude that Omar visited Amethi only to see for himself "how self-help groups work". It was indeed a political exercise undertaken at far off Amethi. The fact that Saif-ud-Din Soz and Mohan Prakash also accompanied Rahul and Omar just cannot be construed as an ordinary development. Indeed, the objective was other than what the PTI suggested. The PTI reported what it saw. There are reasons to believe that Omar Abdullah might have discussed with Rahul in the presence of the JKPCC president and in-charge of the Congress affairs in the State the issue of pre-poll alliance. The NC working president is, it appears, committed to forging a pre-poll alliance with the Congress to keep the PDP away from the State's corridors of power. That he is committed could be seen from the reiteration of his stand in the working committee meeting, held recently at the party headquarters in Jammu. It was on November 22 that Omar Abdullah for the first time expressed himself in favour of pre-poll alliance and ever since then, he has been saying so. It can be said that Omar was on a political mission and his objective was, it appears, convince Rahul of the need to forge a pre-poll alliance. Things would become clear sooner than later. Let's wait for sometime. |
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