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| NC ridicules Soz, says Omar not bound to convene cabinet meeting | | Reservation to 'Paharis', OBCs | | Rustam
JAMMU, Aug 18: The relations between NC and Congress, coalition partners, have turned so bitter that the NC is openly ridiculing JKPCC chief Saif-ud-Din Soz. The latest attack on him was launched by the NC on Saturday and the reason was not that strong that should invite a strong reaction from the NC. The JKPCC chief had only urged Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to convene cabinet meeting at the earliest so
that a final decision on reservation to the "Pahari"-speaking people and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) is taken. Omar Abdullah on August 15 announced five per cent reservation for the Pathowari-speaking people and two per cent for OBCs. In fact, the declaration formed part of his Independence Day address. In the Monday issue of Early Times this correspondent had suggested that Omar Abdullah perhaps had taken the decision unilaterally or not taken the Congress into confidence. And the manner in which the JKPCC chief reacted only established that Omar Abdullah had ignored his alliance partners, obviously for political gains at the cost of the Congress, which, like the NC, is also trying its level best to restore some of the political space it lost to the BJP in the Lok Sabha election, if not the entire. The Congress has been passing through a critical phase since May 16, when the Lok Sabha election results were declare and the Congress bite dust in all the two Lok Sabha constituencies in Jammu and the sole constituency in Ladakh. So much so, the Congress tallest leader Ghulam Nabi Azad lost to Jitendra singh of BJP by a huge margin of over 60,000 votes - a defeat that upset all the Congress's calculations fir years to come. The plight of the Congress can be determined from the fact that both Azad and Soz have reportedly refused to contest the upcoming assembly election. Soz wants his son and Congress spokesperson Salman Soz to contest election from Baramulla constituency.
The JKPCC chief had not demanded moon; he had only demanded cabinet meeting, which is a routine matter. No one had expected that the NC would behave in a provocative manner and pooh-pooh his demand. Reacting to the JKPCC chief's demand, a "senior" NC leader on Saturday reportedly said: "Soz has no jurisdiction to ask the Chief Minister to convene the Cabinet meeting". "Cabinet is the domain of the council of ministers, not Saifuddin Soz…The CM will call the meeting whenever he wishes, keeping in view his availability and other engagements," he was also quoted as saying. The fact of the matter is that the NC showed thumb to the JKPCC and this was not the first occasion when the NC treated the JKPCC chief in the manner it treated yesterday. It happened umpteen times in the past, with many senior NC leaders, especially NC additional general secretary and Omar Abdullah's uncle Mustafa Kamaal, always in the forefront questioning his very credentials. What is puzzling is the Congress's unwillingness to come out of the government. Its association with the NC is eroding further its credibility and support-base not only in Jammu and Ladakh, but also in Kashmir. In the meantime, the J&K Gujjar and Bakerwal Joint Forum, an organization of tribal community in the state has opposed reservation to the Pathowari-speaking people on linguistic ground and termed it "unconstitutional and unlawful". The forum further said that the decision of Omar Abdullah will trigger a conflict between the "suppressed people and those privileged classes who wanted to get reservation at any cost". |
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