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| Infighting, Cong parting ways leave NC in lurch | | LA Polls | | Elders versus youngsters
disappoint workers
Fazal Khan
SRINAGAR, Aug 2: Congress parting ways from its coalition partner National Conference and deciding to contest the forthcoming Assembly elections on its own has put the NC in a catch-22 situation. NC top leadership seems confused and indecisive about what to do and how to proceed.
Till date National Conference has named 46 candidates who would contest the Assembly polls, slated to be held later this year, from various segments across Jammu and Kashmir, but it has left out the seats which till the recent past were considered to be its citadels.
Sources told Early Times that NC not even winning a single seat in the Parliamentary polls has pushed the top NC leaders away from each other. "The differences among the leaders have disillusioned the NC workers and they too have given up hope," said a NC insider.
He said that top NC leaders till the last moment were optimistic about them striking a deal with the Congress high command to contest the forthcoming polls jointly. "Chief Minister Omar Abdullah after meeting the Congress chairperson Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi last month maintained silence over what transpired during the meeting," the insider said. "Omar had tried his best to persuade Sonia to forge an alliance with the NC to prevent the division of votes."
Sources said that even Sonia had "assured" Omar that an arrangement would be worked out to ensure that both the parties enter into some sort of tactical alliance. "It seems senior Congress leaders from Jammu and Kashmir and the incharge JK Affairs Ambika Soni made Sonia change her decision and advised her that Congress should contest the forthcoming polls in JK alone," sources added.
"After Sonia's assurance Omar had thought that NC would leave the grey areas for Congress and NC would field the candidates from the limited number of seats," they said.
Congress has put the NC in a tight spot as during all these years NC's credibility in many Congress dominated areas has been eroded. "It is running short of people and the popular faces who could be given the mandate to contest the forthcoming elections," said a source.
National Conference is not only concerned about the "grey areas" another problem which is haunting the party leadership is that party is not finding suitable candidates for the areas which till the recent past where its strongholds. The opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) making inroads in most areas in Kashmir valley has sent the NC leadership into tizzy.
"NC is trying to play safe as it has relied on its old hands like Abdul Rahim Rather, Ali Mohammad Sagar, Nasir Aslam Wani, Irfan Shah, Mian Altaf and others who had won the 2008 Assembly elections," said an analyst.
"National Conference fearing badly in Ganderbal, Kangan, Sonawar, Zadibal and other seats during the recent Parliamentary elections has made the party leadership believe that its candidates cannot emerge victorious from these seats.
Omar Abdullah himself is indecisive," he added.
"One thing is for sure that Omar won't contest from Ganderbal as he knows it very well that he cannot win from there. Poor performance of NC in Sonawar and Hazratbal from where Omar is likely to contest has put him in a fix," the analyst said.
A NC insider revealed that former Union Minister and National Conference patron Dr Farooq Abdullah is "very angry" with Omar's young team and he holds it responsible for the party's debacle in the Lok Sabha polls. "Though Omar has announced that Dr Farooq won't contest the assembly elections but the NC patron himself has not taken any final decision in this regard," the insider added.
He said another problem which the NC is facing is that party has been divided into two groups. "Elders cannot tolerate youngsters while the younger lot considers older people as redundant," the insider revealed.
He said, Omar wants to give a chance to new faces and is of the opinion that "deadwood" should be done away with, while senior leaders are of the opinion that "arrogance of youngsters" has "ruined" the party and they should be kept at bay. "If the infighting among NC leaders continues there is every possibility of NC not even getting 10 seats in the forthcoming Assembly polls," said a NC leader wishing not to be named. |
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