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| No Chief Ministerial stuff from Congress, BJP | | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Oct 25: The Congress appears to have decided not to project any senior party leader as Chief Ministerial candidate in the forthcoming Assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir.
There is no dearth of leaders who could have been projected as a chief Ministerial candidate but the Congress leadership is wise enough not to expose the political fragility of the organization in winning absolute majority in the 87-member Assembly. Hence it has opted for playing safe. A senior congress leader says that "it is not the tradition in our organization. Contrary to the decision of the Congress the National Conference and Panthers Party have taken a bold step.
Perhaps in a bid to undo the disaster of 2002 leadership, the National Conference has decided to project Dr Farooq Abdullah as Chief Ministerial candidate instead of party president Omar Abdullah. Omar has taken charge of deciding candidates, campaigns and other poll logistics. NC has made a wise move in this decision as declaration of leader beforehand gives the electors an option to choose.
The Panthers Party has decided to project Bhim Singh as the Chief Ministerial candidate. But his charisma and courage may not help the Panthers Party in winning even s simple majority in the Assembly. But the party has gambled and may be with Bhim Singh as Chief Ministerial candidate the Panthers may improve upon its performance from what it had achieved in 2002 election when it won four seats.
The Congress is not prepared to gamble because it is yet to come out of despondency which was the result of the two-month long turmol on the land row. Ghulam Nabi Azad could have been projected as the party's Chief Ministerial candidate but he could have proved a red rag to the bull in Jammu, notwithstanding the laudable work he had done as Chief Minister. The Union Minister for Water Resources, Saif-ud-Din Soz too had the potential of emerging as Congress Party's Chief Ministerial candidate.He could not have been projected because indications are that he was not going to contest the election. Mangat Ram Sharma too could have been projected as Chief Ministerial candidate but his role during the agitation over the land row had created situation for him which may not allow him to have cake-walk win from the Jammu West constituency, if at all he was given the mandate. Ghulam Rasool Kar may not have been acceptable as Chief Ministerial candidate for Congress supporters in Jammu.
Though the BJP leadership is on cloud nine it too has decided against projecting any leader as its chief Ministerial candidate. The BJP Chief, Ashok Khajuria, says "we will not project anybody as Chief Ministerial candidate because we believe in collective leadership. We will work together for ensuing success for the party candidates." Two factors seem to have forced the BJP not to name any leader s the party's chief ministerial candidate. First, it is plagued by dissidence. Secondly, it cannot dream of winning a simple majority required for forming the Government. If it is so why the labour for introducing someone as chief Ministerial candidate. It was only in 1977 Assembly election that the then Janata Party had won a sizeable number of seats. In rest of the elections the Sangh Parivar has had to remain content with three to five seats and in 2002 it could win only one seat.
For the National Conference there is no inhibition in projecting someone as the party's chief Ministerial candidate. And this time it has projected Dr Farooq Abdullah as the Chief Ministerial candidate. Farooq has the charisma. When he speaks people forget his sins he had committed as Chief Minister since 1982.No doubt his son, Omar Abdullah, has proved himself more responsible leader than his father but his straight drives do not go well among the people unlike Farooq's leg glances. Farooq has demonstrated his skill in talking to people in the language they understand. He has the art of allowing his heart to beat with the beats of the people. The PDP has no option but to project Mufti Sayeed as the Chief Ministerial candidate. He is a shrewd politician and does not let his tongue slip as his daughter, Mehbooba, is seen doing. The leaders of the two parties, notwithstanding the fact that they stand on a weaker wicket than they were in 2002, they know that they will manage to win more than 12 to 15 seats allowing them a chance to lead a coalition Government. |
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