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| If Omar fails to call Cabinet meet Govt will fall: Soz | | War of Words | | Soz playing dirty tricks, looking for excuses to withdraw support: NC
Fazal Khan
SRINAGAR, Aug 18: War of words between the two coalition partners National Conference and Congress snowballed into a major controversy as the Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) chief Prof Saif-ud-Din Soz today said that if Chief Minister Omar Abdullah fails to call the Cabinet meet Government would lose its "constitutional validity" and fall automatically.
Prof Soz while talking to reporters here today said, "If the Chief Minister fails to convene the Cabinet meeting or if the Coordination Committee meeting was not held, Government will fall as it would have no constitutional validity."
Row over Cabinet meeting became an issue after the JKPCC chief Prof Soz asked Omar to hold the Cabinet meeting as soon as possible to discuss various issues. However, NC leaders took a serious note of what they termed as Soz's 'diktat' and reacted sharply saying he (Soz) cannot dictate terms. Even one of the NC leaders told Early Times that Soz has "struck a secret deal with PDP and wants coalition to fall."
After angry reaction from the NC leaders, Soz softened his stand today claiming, "I had not issued any threat to Chief Minister. I am duty bound to raise such issues as I head the JKPCC and the Coordination Committee of the NC-Cong coalition. We are urging the Chief Minister to hold the Cabinet meet so that pending issues like reservation for OBCs and increasing the wages of numberdars are finalized," he added.
Reacting to Prof Soz's remark that coalition Government would fall if Chief Minister fails to call the Cabinet meet, the senior National Conference leader Dr Mustafa Kamaal while talking to Early Time said, "Omar Abdullah is not a fool. He knows how to run the Government. Impression is being created that he cannot run the Government and it's unfortunate."
"Soz sahib is playing tricks and he will pay for these dearly in the long run. They are trying to find an excuse to pull out from the Government and this can be one," Kamaal said. "National Conference suffered a lot due to rendering unflinching support to the Central Congress leadership despite facing tremendous losses but we didn't change our stand."
Asked about the rumors that the JKPCC chief Prof Soz has struck a secret deal with PDP, Kamaal said, "Politics makes strange bed fellows. PDP on many occasions has said that they have kept the options open and Congress leaders too have shown inclination towards PDP. Anything is possible and nothing can be ruled out," Kamaal added.
A senior National Conference leader told Early Times that Congress has "unleashed anti-NC propaganda" and is blaming it for all the wrongs. "We were equal partners in coalition but Congress leaders are trying to create an impression that as if NC only was running the Government," he added.
The leader said that soon after the results of the Parliamentary elections were declared Congress Ministers raised hue and cry during the Cabinet meetings and tried to dictate terms. "It seems Chief Minister is exercising his authority and has shown it to the Congressmen that they cannot keep on intimidating and blackmailing him. That is why he is not calling the Cabinet meet."
A NC insider said that party leadership believes that if they keep on playing in the hands of Congress there is every possibility of party losing whatever ground has been left. "Coming Assembly elections are going to be tough. We have already faced one defeat we cannot allow things to slip out of our hands," he added.
The insider said that Congress announcing that it would contest the forthcoming Assembly elections alone has also "upset" the NC leadership, who, he said, were sure about both the parties forging a pre-poll alliance ahead of the Assembly polls. "Prof Soz has been instrumental in ensuring that Congress and NC contest the elections separately. It is one of the reasons for NC leadership being angry with him," the insider added. |
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