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| NC-Congress Govt completes four years in office | | CM in full command | | Neha
Jammu, Jan 5: It was on this date four years ago that the Congress high command handed over the State power to the Kashmir-based pro-autonomy NC on a platter asking the local Congress leadership and elected MLAs to extend their support to it. What happened in the State during these four years of the NC-Congress rule or whatever one may call is known to all. Everyone knows that the relations between the two parties, barring Congress Ministers, were not really cordial: The Congress Ministers extended their unflinching and unqualified support to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for obvious reasons, including their desire to remain in the good books of the Chief Minister, and the JKPCC from time to time took cudgels with the Chief Minister and other senior NC leaders, especially party additional general secretary, with the NC finally carrying the day, as it enjoyed, and continues to enjoy, the confidence of the Congress high command (in this case AICC president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and her son and AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi.) That was the reason many local Congress leaders failed to dislodge the NC Chief Minister after he completed four years in office.
During these four years, the NC leaders, particularly Mustafa Kamaal, did not leave any stone unturned to humiliate the local Congress leadership, saying the Congress was responsible for all the ills facing the Kashmir valley and the people it houses. Not only this, he lambasted New Delhi as well as the Congress party again and again suggesting that both worked against the interests of Kashmir and both hatched conspiracy after conspiracy to erode the State's special status. Besides, he bemoaned the Pakistani attack on Jammu and Kashmir and publicly said that had Pakistan not invaded the State, it would have become independent in 1947 itself. The meaning of what he said was clear. Kamaal, in addition, again and again denounced the Indian Army and paramilitary forces and accused them of violating human rights of the people of Kashmir, as also accused them of frustrating the NC's move aimed at making New Delhi amend or withdraw from State the AFSPA as well as Army. Not just this, Kamaal umpteen times said that the NC had nothing to do with the local Congress leadership, as it had entered into coalition with the Central Congress leadership. The party president Farooq Abdullah did from time to time issue statements indicating that he did share his brother's views, but did not take any action against him. Yes, he once removed him from the party posts, but took no time in returning to him the post of additional general secretary.
The relations of the Chief Minister with the local Congress leaders, particularly the JKPCC chief Saif-ud-Din Soz, were as bitter as they were between the latter and Kamaal. In fact, the Chief Minister, who had once questioned the very accession of the State with India and repeatedly asked New Delhi to solve the "Kashmir problem politically" and demanded amendment in the AFSPA, had taken to task the JKPCC chief for his stand on the AFSPA. The Chief Minister had said that he did not consider it necessary to discuss the issue with the JKPCC chief, as he had taken on board the Union Home Minister. So much so, he had told the JKPCC chief that if he had something in mind, he should come to him and discuss what he wanted to discuss.
The last four years also saw the NC in full command and the Congress party neither here nor there, notwithstanding the fact that the Chief Minister, who had made revocation of the AFSPA and reduction in the number of troops in certain parts of the Valley as the cornerstone of his speeches, statements and press conference. The Chief Minister ran the Government the way he wanted; he implemented policies he wanted with no opposition from his Council of Ministers, which also included almost half of Congress Ministers; he kept with him portfolios he wanted, besides holding two other crucial portfolios, which should have been the preserve of the Congress party as per the power-sharing formula; and so. The fact is that he reigned supreme during the past four years. The weak Congress could not succeed even in persuading its ally to empower to an extent the toothless panchayats. It did bark several times but did not bite because the Congress high command was there to make sure that the Chief Minister had a smooth sailing.
One can catalogue here innumerable instances to show that the NC led the State Government like a party with an absolute majority runs the Government and that the Congress played the role of second-fiddle. It is no wonder then that an overwhelming majority of local Congress leaders and workers are seething with anger. But their problem is that they cannot open their mouth fearing a very strong disciplinary action. And as for the nature of the NC-led rule, less said the better. Suffice it to say that there prevails widespread discontent and dissatisfaction across the State and that those close to the establishment alone benefited from the system. The other thing that the State witnessed during these four years was transfers and retransfers of officers and re-employment to the selected few or those close to the ruling coalition. The fact is that was nothing for the people to cheer. |
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