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| NC working president, general secretary pulling in different directions | | Dwindling support-base | | Neha
JAMMU, Jan 10: Top NC leaders like its working president Omar Abdullah and general secretary Sheikh Nazir Ahmad are pulling in different directions. Omar Abdullah is, it seems, convinced that his party has lost its sheen and appeal, that it is just not in a position to recapture power on its own and that if it has to recapture power in 2014, it has no other alternative but to enter into a pre-poll alliance with the Congress party. He has been advocating the need for a pre-poll alliance with the Congress party since the last week of November 2012, saying this is the only alternative available to keep the PDP out of power and recapture political power. He had also raised this issue in the working committee meeting, which was held in Jammu last month, with the party president and Union Minister for Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah virtually endorsing his son's suggestion.
On the other hand, NC general secretary ailing Sheikh Nazir, who on Tuesday last denounced New Delhi and demanded plebiscite in and khudmukhtari/independence for Kashmir in the presence of at least two NC Ministers and an equal number of party legislators, besides party workers, bemoaned the fast-dwindling support-base of the party and urged them to give the NC a full mandate so that it is able to address their problems. In fact, he criticized the NC workers for the poor performance of the party in the 2008 Assembly elections. "Why didn't you think at the time of voting in favour of other party (in this case PDP) in 2008? You (workers) are at fault," he said when some angry NC workers reportedly raised slogans like "We want our right. Address our problems." "It was a disgrace for NC that the party has come down from 68 seats in State Assembly in 1996 to only 28 at present. It is high time for us to strengthen our roots and to introspect. If you (workers) want to see your problems addressed in time, give us a full mandate in next election," he told them.
According to another report, Sheikh Nazir used "abusive language" both against PCC chief Saif-ud-Din Soz and "some of his own party men", who reportedly said that the "State Government has failed to come up to their expectations" and accused it of adopting a "callous attitude towards their problems". "Why do you blame us? What are you doing? It is because of your misdeeds that we have reached from two-thirds majority in Assembly to 28 seats only", he reportedly told NC workers while countering them, adding that "Soz too was brought into picture by you people" and asked, "Where did he (Soz) stand earlier?"
What Sheikh Nazir said clearly suggested four things. One, he was not only extremely angry with his own party men, but also with PCC chief and former NC leader Soz. He held them responsible for the decline of the party or for its very poor performance in 2008. He did not refer to the party's performance in the 2002 Assembly elections for reasons best known to him. In 2002, the NC's tally was also 28. Two, he, unlike Omar Abdullah, has no faith in the Congress party. He wants the NC to contest the next Assembly elections across the State without entering into a pre-poll alliance with the Congress or any other formation. He, in fact, shares the view of the Chief Minister's uncle and NC additional general secretary Mustafa Kamaal. Three, he has not been able to appreciate the rise of PDP as a force to reckon with in Kashmir valley. Four, he wants a decisive mandate for the NC in the 2014 Assembly elections, something the NC cannot achieve. The NC would, it appears, lose more support-base in the days to come for reasons too well-known and that's the reason Omar Abdullah, who knows the ground reality, is insisting on a pre-poll alliance with the Congress party. The truth is that both Omar Abdullah and Sheikh Nazir are pulling in diametrically opposite directions indicating their desperation and frustration. |
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