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| Fate of Congress-PDP hangs by a slender thread | | | Jammu, March 29
In the light of fast changing developments the fate of the PDP-Congress alliance in Jammu and Kashmir hangs by a slender thread. Though the meeting of the Political Affairs Committee of the PDP and the cabinet meeting, slated for Thursday, have been postponed after Prime Minister wanted to discuss the issues, raised by the PDP patron, with Mufti Mohd. Sayeed and Chief Minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad.
Azad, soon after reaching Delhi, telephoned the Chief Secretary to get the cabinet meeting postponed. The idea behind the postponement of the PAC and cabinet meetings was to allow a last minute opportunity to Azad and the Mufti to come to some settlement as far as the demand for withdrawal of troops and the repeal of AFSPA were concerned.
The Mufti had postponed vis return to Srinagar which had prompted the postponement of PAC meeting. He too was suggested to get the PAC meeting postponed so that if at the meeting it was announced that the PDP will quit the coalition Government the possibilities of a patch up would have become difficult. And had Azad gone ahead with the cabinet meeting in the absence of PDP ministers it would have given an impression that the alliance had almost cracked.
A close associate of the Mufti denied reports that the PDP patron had given an ultimatum in which he had stated that in case the centre did not decide anything on withdrawal of troops by March 31 the PDP will pull out of the Government. The associate told KIP today “the Mufti is not a politician who thrives on ultimatums. He has never given any threat or ultimatum to the centre.”
However, those who see an end to the Congress-PDP alliance in Jammu and Kashmir explain that it was politically difficult for the centre to accept the Mufti’s demand at a juncture when the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat were round the corner. Besides this, there is a division in the Congress high command. A group comprising the External Affairs Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, Union Home Minister, Shiv Raj Patil and Defence Minister were opposed to demilitarization. They base their argument against demilitarization on the strength of the report from the Army Chief and the heads of intelligence agencies.
Those who favour the Mufti include Ambica Soni,Arjun Singh and Ahmed Patel. Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and Congress Chief, Ms Sonia Gandhi, prefer a middle path and the two believe that the Mufti is the best bet for the centre in Kashmir. Since Azad has gone to Delhi, on the invitation of the Prime Minister, his reports on the activities of the PDP leadership may add to the Mufti’s problems. The Chief Minister had already given an idea of the report when he addressed a public rally at Kulgam in South Kashmir on Wednesday where he criticized certain political leaders of talking about peoples’ problems during the day and had meetings with militants in the night. It was his vague reference to the activities of PDP leaders. Reports from Delhi said that the Prime Minister has been advised by his colleagues against announcing even the constitution of a high level committee for reviewing the security scenario with reference to the demand for demilitarization and repeal of AFSPA.A lobby in Delhi is opposed to such a committee which once it was done the opposition parties, especially the BJP, may draw political mileage from it in the ensuing elections. As such the future of the ruling coalition in Jammu and Kashmir may be in the doldrums for some days. Both the PDP and Congress leaders said today “nothing can be said with certainty about the future of the alliance since the talks are on and an attempt was being made to find a solution which could satisfy Azad and the Mufti without causing any damage to the UPA Government in the centre They said “India is a land of miracles and only a miracle can save the PDP-Congress coalition from facing total rupture.”
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