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| Is Omar losing his grip on J&K? | | | ET Plus Report
JAMMU, Mar 11: When Omar Abdullah was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir on 5th of January 2009 after forming a government in coalition with the Congress party, It looked like the moment had arrived for the young leader and he seemed ready to take the mantle of the National Conference (NC) from his father, Dr. Farooq Abdullah. In the run up to the elections, Omar Abdullah had covered the state with his Black BMW Car and with party bagging 28 seats in the 2008 assembly elections; the credit for victory was given to him. The National Conference had lost in the 2002 polls after holding the office for 25 years, Omar's father had remained the Chief Minister for three times in 1982, 1986 and 1996. It was the perfect setting for the young chief minister to prove his credentials as an able administrator and the future leader of the party. However, recent events in the state paint a picture that questions the abilities of Omar Abdullah on both fronts. Omar's stature in the party can be gauged from his stand on AFSPA and Afzal Guru Issue. Last year, the Jammu and Kashmir chief minister had said that 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru's hanging would have grave implications not just in the state, but the entire country and it would give a boost to militancy but why Omar was quiet if he was informed a week before the hanging of Afzal Guru. On the day of Afzal's hanging, after returningback to Srinagar, Omar said that he was informed of the decision to hang Guru at 8pm on Friday, around 12 hours before the hanging. His statement was refuted within hours by Union Home Minister who said Omar was informed one week before the execution. On the other hand, Omar Abdullah is demanding to repeal Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from the places in the state where Army is not required. Omar had issued various statements on this issue. Omar had said that the government had requested the UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Mahmohan Singh, and Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde to revoke AFSPA from the state, but an official statement made by the Home Minister that the J&K government had not made any formal request for the revocation of Armed Force Special Power Act (AFSPA) clears that the centre is not serious on Omar's demands both for removal of AFSPA and Afzal Guru's issue. It's not only the party where Omar Abdullah is finding hard to have his way. In the government there have been murmurs that it is Union Minister New and Renewable energy Dr. Farooq Abdullah and Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad who are actually the two men behind major government decisions in the state. Omar Abdullah's inability to rein in the crime and killings has once again grown after the NC & Congress formed the government has further compounded the problems for the young chief minister. It has led to criticism within and outside the party. Omar's announcement about the discussion on Police bill led to huge protests by the Opposition, Separatists and the civil society and chief minister later kept silence on the issue. Omar's decision on reshuffle in the Ministry and Party by taking inexperienced leaders in the top positions made disappointment among the deserving and loyal party workers. Though National Conference leaders have not openly criticized Omar Abdullah for his decisions, they do confide privately that the graph of the party is witnessing a downward slide. A senior leader of the party says that after National Conference won the elections, there were suggestions by some party leaders that it should be Dr. Farooq Abdullah who should be made the chief minister and Omar Abdullah or someone from Congress should be his deputy. Sources say that there were discussions within the National Conference party that Omar Abdullah should be made the chief minister in the next elections, once he had learnt the intricacies of the government. A political expert says that there has been a dearth of ideas from the new regime and the increasing death, crime and the disordered situation in Kashmir has only compounded the problems for Chief Minister. Omar Abdullah stopped the policies initiated by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and Ghulam Nabi Azad instead announced new policies but there has been no action till date and the state is seeing a vacuum in policy works, those works which were approved during the tenure of Azad have not been completed yet. National Conference however blames the tenure of the PDP-Congress for the problems that it is facing in the state. Jammu and Kashmir is a big state and to maintain the state from the condition that it was given to us requires time,' says Political Secretary to CM Tanvir Sadiq. While defending the chief minister, Tanvir says that there are obstacles; however, the chief minister will be able to overcome them. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ashok Khajuria says the PDP- Congress government was removed from the state as people were fed with the corruption, but as of now there hasn't much improvement in the state. The National Conference and Congress government has failed the expectations of the people says Ashok. However the Chief Minister's much hyped Public Darbards have been stopped now, the stream of complaints received by CM grievance cell is proving difficult to be addressed as most of them can be found in the dust bins. |
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