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| Omar, Kamaal face to face with each other | | Eyes on Hazratbal | | Rustam
JAMMU, Aug 5: The relations between NC working president and J&K CM Omar Abdullah, who is looking for a "safe" seat in the Valley and his uncle and party's additional general secretary Mustafa Kamaal, who has been dormant for a few weeks now, particularly after NC president Farooq Abdullah appointed Ali Mohammad Sagar as the party's general secretary, may turn more bitter in the coming days. Mustafa Kamaal, who had won the Hazratbal seat in the 2008 Assembly elections, had hoped that he would find a berth in the NC-Congress coalition Government, but his nephew didn't consider him for Ministership. Of course, Kamaal didn't make out an issue out of it, but he was not happy over the development. The fact that he on occasions criticized Omar Abdullah for making certain important announcements unilaterally or without taking the party into confidence was an indication that all was not well between the two. For example, Kamaal had openly criticized Omar Abdullah for his 2013 statement on pre-poll alliance with the Congress. He had said that what Omar Abdullah said was his personal view and not the party line.
Mustafa Kamaal may again take on Omar Abdullah and create difficulties for the NC, which is already passing through a very critical phase or whose very survival is under grave threat. That the NC could get only 11.1 per cent of the total popular votes polled in the last Lok Sabha elections, which also included some Congress votes, was an indication that it had lost the people's confidence and that it could be over unless some miracle saves it from its impending political demise. What could bring Kamaal and Omar Abdullah face to face with each other is the reported decision that Omar Abdullah would contest the Assembly elections from two seats - Hazratbal and Sonawar in Srinagar - and quit the Ganderbal constituency as the party believes that Omar Abdullah had little or no chance in this constituency, which he at present represents in the Assembly and which was considered a stronghold of the Abdullah family.
A report that emanated from Srinagar on August 4 said: "Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is likely to contest the upcoming Assembly elections from two seats in Srinagar and may drop out of Ganderbal constituency, his family's erstwhile stronghold. The National Conference (NC) has nearly completed the search for safe seats for him…Omar is likely to contest from Hazratbal and Sonawar, from where his father Farooq Abdullah had won in 2008. Omar will contest from Hazratbal and Sonawar. This is the decision so far". "Mustafa Kamaal, the additional general secretary of the party who won from Hazratbal constituency after Farooq vacated it in favour of Sonawar in 2009, is likely to be 'rested' in the upcoming elections," the report further said:
This development has obviously not gone down well with Mustafa Kamaal. He has reportedly dismissed the development as a mere "conjecture and guesswork" and asserted that belonged to the party and the party will not take a wrong decision. "It was 'conjecture and guesswork' that he might be asked to 'take rest'. 'I belong to the party and the decision of the party will be a well thought out decision. It will be in the interest of the party and the people," Kamaal was quoted as saying.
From what Mustafa Kamaal said it was quite clear that he was very much in the race and unwilling to vacate the Hazratbal seat for Omar Abdullah. It would be interesting to see how he scuttles the party's "decision". Besides, it again became clear that Omar Abdullah has become so unpopular that he is seeking for him not one but two safe seats and that too in the Kashmir valley. The calculation of the PDP that it could win 44+ seats because the NC has lost all its appeal needs to be viewed in this context. |
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