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| Politics this week: All versus Advani | | ‘My Country, My Life’ excerpts fuelling PDP, NC, BJP campaign | | Early Times Reporter
Jammu | Mar 27
Till last week, the issues in the politically surcharged electoral landscape of Jammu and Kashmir were limited in scope and merely digging the old graves. However, the BJP leader LK Advani’s book ‘My Country, My Life’ has infused fresh blood in the state politics with Peoples Democratic Party, National Conference and BJP playing a triangular game.
Advani has written the book, got it descently released and now the publisher is making brisk sales. However, in Jammu and Kashmir, it has caused a daily round of attacks and counter attacks between three parties. Interestingly, the Congress is keeping itself away from the controversy.
While the NC and PDP are actively engaged in the blame game, the BJP has got an issue out of it to address the press conferences and entertain the listeners at the public meetings. A bulk of press notes of the political parties received at the newspaper offices here these days are mostly pertaining to the Advani’s book.
The reaction is more interesting in the Kashmir Valley where the excerpts from the book have become a major discourse at the public meetings. Referring to the book at at public meeting in Takipora in Kupwara district, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti alleged the NC leadership traded the autonomy resolution passed by the assembly in June 2000 for power in the then NDA government.
"Advani in his book has said the then Chief minister Farooq Abdullah preferred to remain in power... Rather than press for the implementation of the state autonomy committee report," she said.
She said, the Opposition party leadership was firmly told by the then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee that the autonomy resolution would not be accepted at any cost and if NC wanted, they could leave the NDA.
"However, according to Advani to safeguard his own chair and that of his son Omar Abdullah, who was minister of state for external affairs in the government, Abdullah bowed before the Centre and allowed the issue to lapse," she said.
Reacting to Advani's assertion, NC patron and former chief minister Farooq Abdullah said they were "baseless allegations". "It is baseless and unfortunate that Advani has said so," Abdullah told a hurriedly convened press conference at his residence here this evening.
"I feet hurt... Advani who wants to become prime minister of the country should have not mentioned what has not happened at all," an angry Abdullah said.
"I do not know why he (Advani) has chosen this time to rake up the issue," Abdullah said when asked by a reporter why the BJP leader said this when elections in the state are round the corner.
The former chief minister said five copies of the autonomy report were sent to the Union Home Ministry through local office of the Intelligence Bureau. "However, Advani later told me that he has not received the report. Fortunately I had a copy of the report with me and submitted the same to Advani," Abdullah said.
Abdullah said he was in Bangalore when Vajpayee sent him a message to meet him for urgent consultations as the report had been discussed at a cabinet meeting where the then law minister Arun Jaitley and Defence Minister George Fernandes had suggested that it need not be rejected before going through it.
However, BJP members were against it and as they had the majority voice, so the autonomy report was rejected, Abdullah said. He said Vajpayee conveyed to him the decision of the government to reject the report.
"However, I pleaded that without going through it how can it be rejected. Both Vajpayee and Advani came here on the demise of my mother and assured me that the government would consider it," he said. Abdullah said K C Pant was made a pointsman and he came here and met several people, including senior separatist leader Shabir Ahmad Shah, but "nothing concrete was done". |
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