news details |
|
|
| Congress and 2008 Election Manifesto | | The Forgotten Jammu | | NEHA
JAMMU, Dec 24: Certain Congress leaders, including ministers in the NC-led coalition government, claim almost on a daily basis that their party is committed to what it promised in its 2008 election manifesto and that they have been doing all that they should to fulfill the promises the party held out to win over the Jammu electorate. They have also been claiming that the coalition government's policies are based on the principle of justice and equity and that the state government is treating all the three regions equally. Even yesterday, one Congress minister expressed such views.
There is no need to point out the regional disparities and their negative impact on the people of Jammu province, as all the people, barring some vested interests, are fully aware of the ground situation. Besides, there are official reports which have candidly acknowledged that the people of Jammu province never got what they rightfully deserved. However, it needs to be underlined that even the state unit of the Congress party had recognized both in 2002 and 2008 that the state polity was Kashmir-centric and that the Congress, if voted to power, would change the system in order to address the Jammu issue. Just go through the election manifestos the Congress released with much fanfare in 2002 and 2008 to know what they said and solemnly promised.
Anyway, both the election manifestos had acknowledged that Jammu province had been treated shabbily by the successive governments in the state and promised a fair deal to it. The 2002 election manifesto made four Jammu-specific promises: End of discrimination, implementation of Wazir Commission Report on districts, establishment of regional development board and office of Chief Minister. The 2008 election manifesto, among other commitments, promised an amendment in the Jammu & Kashmir Constitution aimed at reorganizing the administrative set-up in the state. It had said that the Congress, if voted to power, shall amend the State Constitution, federalize the state polity and establish regional council for Jammu province.
It must remain a matter of regret that the Congress neither respected the 2002 election manifesto nor the 2008 election manifesto. It put both the manifestos in the dustbin taking the people of Jammu province for a ride. The Congress claims that it did implement the Wazir Commission Report, but the fact is that the Ghulam Nabi Azad-led government had implemented the report in a wrong way: It created four districts in Kashmir, as against one suggested by the Commission, and it created an equal number of districts in Jammu province, as against three as recommended by the Wazir Commission. The Wazir Commission had, it bears recalling, categorically stated that Jammu province needed at least nine districts, as against six it had been divided into in the past, and the number of districts in Kashmir be increased by one district because Jammu province was two time bigger in size as compared to the Valley. The Congress government created four new districts in Kashmir despite the fact that there was no demand whatsoever in any part of the Valley for more districts.
The Congress would do well to respect the commitments it made in 2002 and 2008. It should conduct itself in a manner similar to the one in which the Congress leadership in Telengana in Andhra Pradesh has been conducting. It is a must. It must remember that its support-base in Jammu province is rather limited. It is confined to just 13 out of 37 assembly constituencies, including five in the erstwhile Doda district. The Doda electorate had voted for the Congress believing that a vote for this party would mean the appointment of Ghulam Nabi Azad as Chief Minister for the second time. Not to respect the held-out promises and continue to fool the people of Jammu province would be only to force the Jammu electorate to turn to other political parties.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
