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| After wargames, PDP fears slicing | | Worried Muftis petition Vohra, as Azad ups hit floor tally | | ET SPECIAL
Jammu | July 2
After playing a political war-games with the Congress in this election year, the Peoples Democratic Party fears a vertical slicing at the hands of Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad in the floor test of his government slated for July 7.
Surprising the confidence of Chief Minister who has all along been saying that he has required number to prove majority despite refusal by all parties to support his floor test, the PDP is guessing as who afterall is with Azad. As the grapevine of split takes round in the political circles, the Peoples Democratic Party is fearing its own split in the coming days.
Sources said that at least half a dozen legislators of the Peoples Democratic Party are doing an appearing and disappearing act leaving the leadership in a deep depression of stability. While National Conference thinks that the PDP may give a tacit support to save the Azad government but our political sources have something else to say.
It is reliably learnt that the aides of Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad are in touch with several dissidents of the Peoples Democratic Party and a possibility of split in the party is not ruled out. Azad is also reported to have wooed in around ten independent legislators including some of those who have been issuing statements of not supporting the government.
Feeling the ground slipping beneath its feet, a worried Peoples Democratic Party today issued a statement asking the Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad to avoid any poaching. A party spokesman said that is setting the stage for the slaughter of democratic and constitutional institutions in the State on July 7, when he has to prove his strength in the Legislature.
In a statement, a PDP spokesman said against all the numerical odds, the Chief Minister is harping on having more than adequate numbers to prove his majority on the floor of the House. "While the State's major political players – PDP, National Conference, Panthers Party and BJP have already made it clear that they are not going to support the Chief Minister during the vote of confidence, the only way Mr Azad could cobble up the numbers is through foul-play and horse-trading," he said and added that there are reports that Mr Azad is already in the process of poaching on the legislators of various political parties to arrange enough numbers for himself.
"The Chief Minister and his cohorts are allegedly utilizing all the undemocratic means, overtly and covertly, to manage numbers and there are reports that besides various lucrative offers, even moneybags are being presented to legislators to shift their loyalties," the spokesman said and warned that in the presence of strict anti-defection law in vogue in the State, such unconstitutional tactics are going to set a severe blow to the hard-earned democratic institutions and processes in the State.
It is an irony that a person who was again and again trumpeting the slogan of 'war against corruption' has started resorting to worst kind of political corruption to save his chair, the spokesman said and added that although Mr Azad could have succeeded in other parts of the country in making or breaking the governments through such dubious tactics, Jammu & Kashmir is entirely a different case and any move to subvert the democratic institutions here could have a disastrous political fall-out. "The State has already been brought at the verge of dangerous regional and communal polarization and any move to idle with the democratic institutions could further vitiate the atmosphere," he said.
Cautioning Mr Azad against resorting to any undemocratic adventurism to save his chair, the spokesman said given the sensitivities and fragility of Jammu & Kashmir's politics dynamics, such a misadventure could have unimaginable disastrous consequences for not only the State, but the whole country. "Having passed through the most difficult times of its recent history, huge investment has been made at various levels to bring the democratic spirit back in Kashmir polity and it should not be allowed to go down the drain for power politics," the spokesman said.
The spokesman said it is the responsibility of the country's leadership and the Governor Mr N N Vohra to see to it that no person or party is allowed to resort to any kind of foul play in the numbers game. "We hope that the country's leadership and the State Governor would rise to the occasion and ensure that in the numbers-game the democratic institutions in the State do not get mauled," the spokesman said and added that any effort of trampling the constitutional norms in the State would, to the detriment of peace, erode the people's faith in the democratic institutions. "Instead of allowing Mr Azad to undermine the constitutional institutions, the country's leadership should allow the democratic process in the State to reach its logical conclusion." |
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