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| Ministry expansion again put off, following PDP hardening stance | | | Early Times Special Correspondent
Jammu | Dec 6: The cabinet expansion, which was stated to be effected this week, has again been put off, following the PDP hardening its stance and setting some conditions, to be fulfilled before conveying its nominee for the cabinet berth.
After many speculations about the induction of four new ministers in the Ghulam Nabi Azad government, three from the Congress quota and one from the PDP and the repeated time frame stated in the media for the expansion of the ministry, the Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad had last week written to the PDP President Mehbooba Mufti for the party to convey to him the name of the party nominee to be inducted in the ministry. The PDP, however, is sitting pretty over the letter. Instead of conveying the name of its nominee, the party leaders have expressed their unhappiness, through third parties, over the Chief Minister writing to the PDP leader in this behalf rather than arranging a meeting with the former Chief Minister and PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed for sorting out the issue of expansion of the council of ministers.
Although PDP has not responded to the letter sent by the Chief Minister, some party leaders have made it known that they would like first the pending issues to be resolved first. The PDP's priority is not in the expansion of the Azad ministry and induction of a leader of the party in the same, but among its priorities are the handing over of forest portfolio to a cabinet minister belonging to PDP. Although PDP does not insist on the forest portfolio to be restored back to Qazi Mohammad Afzal, from whom it was stanched by the Chief Minister two months back, yet they insist on the same to be allotted to a PDP minister. The PDP also want the Chief Minister to get Mohammad Rafi an NC defector who has joined the PDP, as Member of Legislative Council. The party also demands that Congress should give the PDP a share in autonomous public corporations.
The PDP sources, however, decline that they have set any conditions for agreeing to ministry expansion and contend that the resolving of the pending issues is their top priority, to break the deadlock between the two major coalition partners in the state government. Hardening their stance some top leaders in the PDP have stated that "if pending problems are not resolved then PDP would be left with no option than staying way from the proposed cabinet expansion."
Some PDP sources, on condition of anonymity, also question why the Chief Minister has been sitting over the Kundal panel report on the alleged irregularities and bungling in the State Forest Corporation? Why is the Chief Minister not making the report public, they ask? Obviously the findings by B R Kundal, who was asked to investigate into the alleged underhand dealings in the SFC has absolved Mohammad Afzal Qazi, who was divested of forest portfolio or any other PDP minister for involvement in the irregularities and it are the ministers belonging to Congress and officers close to them, who are found guilty by the probe panel, which makes the Chief Minister to not make public the findings, they add.
Thus, the fresh bonhomie between the Congress and PDP, which was stated to have been achieved has proved only short lived. There are no indications of ministry expansion in the near future. With the entire attention of the Chief Minister and other Congress ministers and leaders focused on assembly by election in Poonch, the expansion of ministry has been again put in backburner. Apart from non cooperation from the PDP, Azad would also not like any fissures to appear among the Congress legislators and fresh disgruntlement among the aspirants who are ignored, at a time when there is need for party to stand united to throw all its weight in winning Poonch assembly seat. |
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