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| Two Ex-CMs headed for LS | | | ZAFAR CHOUDHARY
Jammu, Jan 8: The eleventh Legislative Assembly, awaiting its first sitting, has come up with three former Chief Ministers but two of them are all seat to vacate their seats.
The assembly elected after 2008 elections is the first in history to have as many as three former Chief Minister as its members –Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Dr Farooq Abdullah and Ghulam Nabi Azad.
Four seats of Rajya Sabha to be elected from Jammu and Kashmir are vacant and two former Chief Ministers have their eyes fixed on. Dr Farooq Abdullah and Ghulam Nabi Azad, it is learnt, are all set to return to the national scene after installing young Omar as Chief Minister.
These four Rajya Sabha seats were held by Dr Farooq Abdullah of National Conference, Saifuddin Soz and Choudhary Mohammad Aslam of Congress and Tarlok Singh Bajwa of the Peoples Democratic Party. They were elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha on November 9, 2002 –a week after Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had taken over as Chief Minister.
Azad had later resigned in 2006 and his vacancy was filled up by Choudhary Mohammad Aslam of the Congress who has recently won assembly election from Surankote constituency and subsequently elected as Leader of the Congress Legislature Party. Even though the 2002 Rajya Sabha election was completely unopposed as there was no other candidates than the four, but at Aslam’s time the National Conference had put Mohammad Yusuf Taing in contest.
Indications are also that the National Conference and the Congress may undergo organizational changes before Lok Sabha elections due anytime in new couple of months. While Dr Abdullah is geared to take over the NC organizational reigns, sources said that Congress may consider handing over charge to Azad. Congress General Secretary in-charge Jammu and Kashmir affairs also recently indicated that Azad may return to New Delhi party circle but while keeping his role in Jammu and Kashmir politics.
Azad had first taken over as PCC Chief in J&K on April 10, 2001 replacing then incumbent Mohammad Shafi Qureshi after an acrimonious CWC meeting following Uttar Pradesh assembly election results. That was the first time when Azad took any organizational assignment in home state after 1977.
Sources said that while Farooq, Azad and Soz were all set to be returned to the Rajya Sabha, the coalition will decide on fourth candidate from Jammu region. Peoples Democratic Party is though short of numbers in electing a candidate of their own but the party will put one in contest and try to muster the votes.
It may be recalled here that in 2002, the National Conference was also short of numbers but the PDP-Congress alliance did not put a joint candidate against Farooq. It was this goodwill gesture that took Farooq and Omar to Mufti’s office officer chamber in Civil Secretariat for thanksgiving –probably the first meeting in years between the uncompromising political rivals.
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