II Stark Reality II
Rustam
JAMMU, Sept 1: Only a couple of years ago, Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad had advised the Congress ministers in Jammu on the bank of river Tawi after unveiling the statue of Maharaja Hari Singh that they were ministers for the entire state and not for their respective constituencies. He had indirectly censured the Congress ministers and told them that if the Congress was to be strengthened in the state, they had to act as ministers for the entire state.
Significantly, AICC general secretary and in-charge Jammu & Kashmir Congress Ambika Soni said almost the same thing on Saturday in Jammu. The occasion was the much-hyped convention of the executive committee members of the Jammu & Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC), which, as was expected, also witnessed factional fight outside the venue of the event with the supporters of Azad denouncing the JKPCC for not allowing them to take part in the convention.
Using the term "constituency ministers", she held them responsible for the "failure" of the party to implement the party's agenda and, according to insiders, said that "these ministers had confined their activities to their respective constituencies, instead of working to strengthen the party in the state, and had shown disregard to party's agenda to remain in power". Actually, she reacted when some members of the JKPCC drew her attention to the role of the Congress ministers virtually charging them with surrendering before the National Conference for fulfilling their "lust for power and pelf".
As if all this was not enough to put the Congress ministers on the mat, Ambika Soni, as per the insiders, told the convention that "it must remain a matter of shame that the party, which has been in power for the last 11 years, has failed to fulfill some of the promises made with the people" and, according to the same sources, expressed "surprise" saying "today we passed resolutions which we had passed in 2002". She clearly hinted at the role of the Congress ministers. She was so candid that she acknowledged that the party workers at the grassroots level have lost their faith in the party. "During my meetings with the people and various delegations on Friday evening, I clearly noticed that they have lost faith in us", she, as per some insiders, said.
Her main refrain was that the party leadership and Congress ministers have to work hard to win back the trust of the alienated people. It is difficult to say if her counsels, coupled with a censure, would be paid any heed by those at whom she hinted using such terms as "constituency ministers". |
