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| NC suffers another jolt, Sheikh Ghulam Rasool resigns | | Assembly Elections | | 'Party set to face worst ever defeat in JK history'
Early Times Report
srinagar, Nov 5: Sensing defeat in the forthcoming assembly elections the National Conference loyalists are deserting the party one by one. The party suffered yet another jolt today when senior party leader from Ganderbal and MLC Sheikh Ghulam Rasool called it quits.
"As the party affairs in Ganderbal have deteriorated and people alienated, I could not accept the party mandate to contest election in Ganderbal offered by Dr Farooq (Abdullah) and you through senior party leaders a few days back," Sheikh Ghulam Rasool, a former chief secretary of the state, said in the resignation letter to NC working president Omar Abdullah.
The former Chief Secretary, who was seen as key to Omar's victory in 2008 assembly elections from Ganderbal, cited lack of consultation in the party over state affairs and even in organizational matters of Ganderbal.
"I had the privilege to be what you described as 'architect of your success in Ganderbal in 2008 with landslide majority as against the humiliating defeat of 2002. During your stewardship of the past six years, I again did not get occasion even of consultative nature either in state affairs or in Ganderbal matters -- organisational or administrative," he wrote.
Sheikh Ghulam Rasool said these factors and the overall situation in the party were the reasons for his resignation.
Pertinently, Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, earlier this week decided not to contest from Ganderbal constituency and opted for Beerwah and Sonwar areas.
Many people even within the National Conference were of the opinion that if Omar contests from Ganderbal he would taste the defeat like 2002 polls. It took more than two months for the NC senior leaders to decide where from Omar would contest as they were not finding any safe constituency for him. "Dictatorial approach of the party leadership has ruined the party and it would face the worst ever defeat in history of the National Conference in the forthcoming assembly elections," said a NC rebel. Prior to Sheikh Ghulam Rasool, another senior NC leader and close aide of the NC patron Dr Farooq Abdullah, Sheikh Ghulam Ahmad Saloora had called it quits after he was "sidelined" by the party high command. Saloora recently filed his nomination papers as an independent candidate from Ganderbal constituency, which till the recent past was considered to be the NC citadel.
Sources said that senior NC leaders believe that during the past six years they have not been taken into confidence and have been kept at bay. "Juniors have taken over the party affairs. They feel that they are above everybody and need not to consult anyone before taking any decision," said a senior NC leader.
Just a few months before another senior NC leader and former Member Parliament from north Kashmir Abdul Rasheed Shaheen had resigned from the party and had blamed Dr Farooq Abdullah and his Chief Minister son Omar Abdullah for party's debacle in the parliamentary elections which were held earlier this year. NC lost all the three seats in Kashmir to its arch rival Peoples Democratic Party.
Sources said that Omar played a pivotal role in giving mandate to Sheikh Ishfaq Jabbar who filed his nomination papers on the NC ticket from Ganderbal today. "Omar giving preference to new entrants over senior leaders has not gone well with the veterans," sources said. "Veterans may claim that they were offered mandate but the fact is that they are unaware about the party affairs." |
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