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| Insinuations rife on Cong's secret parleys | | Azad is CM candidate? | | Kunal Shrivatsa
JAMMU, May 19: Amid speculations that Congress could part ways with National Conference ahead of the Assembly elections scheduled to be held later this year in the state, a group of leaders within Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) have started behind the curtain moves in persuading the High Command to project Ghulam Nabi Azad as party's Chief Ministerial candidate.
Party insiders informed Early Times that a group of Jammu based leaders are actively campaigning for Ghulam Nabi Azad's candidature as Chief Minister on the lines of National Conference (NC) and Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP), who have announced Dr Farooq Abdullah and Mufti Mohammad Sayeed respectively as their Chief Ministerial candidates.
"Some Congress leaders from Jammu region held secret parleys the other day and felt that if the party wants to resurrect itself in the state especially in Jammu, then the High Command should declare Azad as Chief Ministerial candidate as early as possible," said sources.
"Azad is secular and has strong presence in length and breadth of the state… Azad is not only widely acceptable among Jammuites but he has his admirers in Kashmir and Ladakh regions too and people still remember him for his two and a half years tenure as CM… Azad's popularity among Jammuites could be gauged from the fact that when he took over the reins of the state for the first time in 2005 he was regarded as Chief Minister of Jammu," they added.
According to sources, a section of the Congress leaders feel that Saif-ud-Din Soz, who is Pradesh Congress chief, represents Kashmir Valley and he should be allowed to continue as president but Azad is the face, who has acceptability in all the three regions, should be entrusted with the responsibility of spearheading the party campaign in Assembly elections.
The sources further said that such an arrangement (Azad-Soz combine) would be an effective two pronged strategy to counter opposition in all the three regions of the state.
"Few Congress leaders have already passed on their opinion to Soz and a delegation of Congress leaders is expected to go to New Delhi to convey the sentiments of the party cadre to High Command… They would demand announcement of Azad as Chief Ministerial candidate while the group would also put across its views on continuing with Soz as president of Pradesh Congress and the benefits party could reap from their dual leadership," said sources.
"The common Congressman of Jammu as well as the top leadership of the region considers the defeat of Azad as a major setback to the party… It was Azad who nurtured and groomed the party in the state particularly in Jammu province where it was in a state of coma before 2002… Though Azad has lost the Lok Sabha election from Udhampur, he still is the best bet for the party in Jammu region," a senior Congress leader wishing anonymity said.
"Time has now come that the High Command should project Azad for the post of Chief Minister keeping in view his mass appeal in Jammu as well as Kashmir and Ladakh regions… Right from Block level to District level, every Congress activist in one voice support Azad as Chief Ministerial candidate," he added. |
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