| JKPCC asserts, opposes a pre-poll alliance with NC | | Widening gulf | | Rustam
JAMMU, Jan 20: Pressure from below seems to have been working. The case in point is the meeting between AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi and JKPCC chief Saif-ud-Din Soz-led delegation in New Delhi on Saturday and what the delegation told Rahul Gandhi.
A report suggested that the delegation told Rahul Gandhi that "any pre-poll arrangement for the Parliament or Assembly elections in the State would shrink the party's space and the High Command should allow the party to go alone for the polls".
The delegation consisted of some senior Congress leaders not only from Kashmir, but also from Jammu, including some district presidents, and the JKPCC chief confirmed that he, along with senior Congress leaders, met with Rahul and discussed with him election-related issues, including the issue of pre-poll alliance with the NC.
"I didn't speak on the occasion but many party leaders spoke and put forth their views about the issue," Soz was quoted as saying.
This was an important political development that clearly indicated that an important section of the local Congress leadership hates the NC and is bitterly opposed to the idea of any pre-poll alliance with the NC.
But what was even more important was the fact that senior Congress leaders and former Ministers Abdul Gani Vakil and G M Saroori, who belongs to the Ghulam Nabi Azad camp, and Mula Ram and Madan Lal Sharma, who belong to the Soz camp, were also part of the delegation and he was more vocal.
"Firstly, majority of the party men demanded that there should be no alliance and that Congress should be strengthened in all three regions of the State. They made it clear that the party is in dire need of having its own MPs and more legislators from Kashmir…We told Rahul Ji that Congress should not surrender Kashmir at any cost, be it in Parliament or Assembly elections. I personally believe that Congress means India in Kashmir.
There should be no pressure to surrender seats in the name of alliance," Vakil was quoted as saying.
The basic arguments reportedly advanced by the critics of a pre-poll alliance were four. One, "over the past five years of NC-Congress rule in Jammu and Kashmir, Congress workers have bore the brunt of discrimination on all fronts. National Conference Ministers always entertained their own workers, be it giving Government jobs to youth, allotting tenders or giving contracts". Two, if the Congress high command "wants to see party vibrant and strong in Kashmir, they have to keep the flock together by giving Congressmen right to contest in both Parliament and Assembly polls".
Three, the "party has suffered for being in coalition for five years". Four, "the Congress will win atleast 35 seats in Jammu and Kashmir in case it goes alone in the election and pre-poll arrangement would shrink party's space in Kashmir".
All these were sound arguments. It would be seen if Rahul Gandhi considers these arguments and respect the sentiments of the local Congress leadership. But whatever the result, one thing is very clear that pressure from below has started working and that the Congress would suffer an ignominious defeat in case the Congress high command forges a pre-poll alliance with the NC. |
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