| Third group emerging within Congress...? | | Disenchanted lot distances from Soz, Azad camp | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Feb 25: State unit of Congress which is already seen as a divided house, it appears, is now suffering from the real identity crisis. While the leaders and functionaries were seen conducting themselves in two factions, having allegiance to two star leaders Prof Saif-u-Din Soz and Ghulam Nabi Azad, a group of senior most leaders are now politically classifying in what can be seen as the third faction within the State unit of the party.
This group has emerged more actively on the fore after reshuffle of the Cabinet effected last month and lately it has got further fillip with presence or one or two stalwarts after the names of candidates for Legislative Council polls were announced by the leadership. While the senior leader and former Minister Abdul Ghani Vakil until recently was seen as one having allegiance, rather a diehard supporter and loyalist of Ghulam Nabi Azad, he has kept himself at distance from any group or the persons tagged with either of the two stalwarts. He has been holding or convening meetings by himself for some time. While initially he would utter anything and everything suffixed with Azad's name, he has meticulously chosen not to mention any names while speaks or gives any statement almost every next day.
Vakil keeping distance from either of the two groups is not the sole case. Lately, in a few meetings he has held on one or the other pretext, the meeting of Seva Dal being recent one, senior leaders like former Minister and MLC Jugal Kishore Sharma has shown regular presence in the gatherings with Vakil and other functionaries of INTUC in presence. Besides, in one of the recent meetings soon after announcement of candidates of LC polls, Gulchain Singh Charak also registered presence in which the speakers, directly or indirectly indicated growing resentment with the stalwarts with whom they would take sides, for apparent reasons. Even those who would concentrate in the Soz camp have started dispersing here and there due to discontentment on many counts. Political observers are viewing these developments merely not only as expression of annoyance against the star leaders but also the possibility of emergence of a third group within the party, something which is not a healthy development with elections approaching fast.
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