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| NC is sinking ship, says Shaheen | | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, Aug 8: The oldest Kashmiri party NC, like the grand old party of India Congress, is passing through a very critical time. It, like the Congress, is struggling for its very survival. Senior NC leaders are condemning the top party leaders like Chief Minister and working president of the party Omar Abdullah and his father and party president Farooq Abdullah in the manner many senior leaders of the Congress like Choudhary Birender Singh, Avtar Singh Vadana and so on are questioning the very leadership of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. The Congress is a sinking ship, detractors of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are saying. Similarly, senior NC leaders like Abdul Rasheed Shaheen, former MP, have also been saying that the NC is a sinking ship.
Only on Wednesday, Shaheen charged the Abdullahs with “destroying the credibility” of NC and declared that he would leave the party as “it has become a group of sycophants”. Shaheen is not an ordinary person; he is in-charge of north Kashmir. “Gone are the days when NC was a force to reckon with and gone are the days when people used to show great regard for Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah. The follies committed by Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah have wiped out the party from the map of Jammu and Kashmir. Both the father and son have assigned the responsibilities of the party to those 'sycophants' who were paid agents of other parties during the time of Sheikh Abdullah and who left no stone unturned in destroying the party from time to time,” Shaheen said in Srinagar while roundly condemning the Abdullahs. No senior leader of the NC is willing to contest the coming Assembly election because he/she is not sure of his victory because the NC has lost all of its credibility, he also said in unequivocal language.
“Why is Farooq Abdullah not contesting elections? He knows the outcome as he recently tasted bitter defeat at the hands of an ‘amateur’ politician. My heart bleeds for the party and I had never imagined those people will manage the affairs of the party who have no credibility and are not the loyalist of the party,” he said to make his point. He didn’t stop just there. He further said: “The father and son tarnished the crystal clear image of National Conference founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah and these people for their personal gains sidelined the loyal soldiers of Sheikh and for sake of personal comforts gave place to those ‘sycophants’ in the party who barely knows ABC about the tenants of the party. People of Kashmir had regard for Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah but that regard and respect disappeared because of the continuous blunders committed by Omar Abdullah and Farooq Abdullah,” Shaheen said.
He further revealed: “After the death of Sheikh, his son Farooq Abdullah sidelined the loyalists of the party. The son of Farooq went a step ahead by bringing those people into party fold who did no good to the party. I fail to understand how and why these people were given the charge of provincial presidents of the party,” he said, and added that “National Conference is witnessing an unhurried death and soon this party will disappear from the political map of Jammu and Kashmir. I will definitely leave the party as this party will soon cease to exist in Jammu and Kashmir”.
Shaheen used the language against Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah many senior Congress leaders, including some sitting members of the Rajya Sabha, have been using against Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. What Shaheen said could not be questioned because it was based on some hard realities and what he said was what many in the NC and outside believe in and say. However, he hit the nail on the head when he asked Farooq Abdullah why is he not contesting the coming Assembly election? Farooq Abdullah, according to Omar Abdullah, is not contesting the coming Assembly election and the reason that he gave was that his father was not quite well. There are also rumours that even Omar Abdullah is not contesting the coming Assembly election. If sources close to him are to be believed, then it can be said that he is not finding even Sonawar and Hazratbal “safe seats for him”. At present, he represents Ganderbal Assembly constituency, once a stronghold of the Abdullah family.
Critics say that Omar Abdullah is sitting on the ruins of the NC like Rahul Gandhi is sitting on the ruins of the Congress party. There is also a view, and it is a valid view, that Omar Abdullah has reduced the NC from status of state-level party to the status of a sub-regional party and Rahul Gandhi has reduced the status of the Congress party from national party to a regional party. It is also their view that neither Omar Abdullah nor Rahul Gandhi would learn from their past mistakes and that their respective parties would become part of history sooner than later. |
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