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| Rahul’s wish may spoil coalition mood | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Jan 24: If the Congress general secretary, Rahul Gandhi, who is being projected, by a section in the Congress, as the party's Prime Ministerial candidate in the upcoming Lok Sabha election is able to implement his recent statement union Minister, Prof.Saif-ud-Din Soz may be in for a difficult time. Rahul Gandhi has stated that all those union ministers who are from the Rajya Sabha will have to contest the Lok Sabha election. If this plan gets implemented not only Soz but many ministers will find no constituency safe for them.For Soz the political ground does not seem to be favourable for two reasons.First,the National Conference, to which he belonged till 1999,is opposed to him because he had defied the whip issued by party when the former Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, faced a no confidence motion on the floor of the Lok Sabha. It was Soz's vote against Vajpayee led Government that had resulted in the fall of BJP led NDA Government. In fact the Congress later not only owned Soz buit rewarded him with a berth in the union cabinet. Secondly, the sizeable section in the state unit of the Congress is not well disposed towards Soz and they may not play their role with sincerity in ensuring victory for Prof. Soz.
Soz had been elected to the Lok Sabha in 1984,1989,1998 from Baramullah constituency on the National Conference ticket. After he was expelled from the National Conference he did not dare to contest the Lok Sabha election. No doubt if the Congress fields him from Baramullah he could bank on the support of the National Conference vote bank.But under the NC-Congress alliance the former will be interested in fielding the party candidates from all the three Lok Sabha constituencies in the Kashmir valley leaving both the two parliamentary seats in the Jammu region for the Congress to contest. However, the National Conference leadership may not say "no" to Rahul Gandhi if he wanted Soz to contest from Baramullah seat on the Congress ticket.The reason is that Rahul Ganhi and Sachin Pilot had played a key role in not only getting chief Ministerial seat for Omar Abdullah but had succeeded in ensuring full six-year term for Omar as head of the Government. The Congress was initially in favour of repeating the 2002 experiment when it and its ally the PDP agreed to have a Chief Minister on a rotational basis. This had allowed Mufti Mohammad Sayeed to complete first three years and Ghulam Nabi Azad had been installed the head of the Government for the remaining three years.
If the Congress ultimately favours Soz to contest the Lok Sabha election, possibilities being remote, the National Conference may have no other alternative but to support him. Soz has another advantage. The PDP leadership continues to see in Soz its friend. In that case there is a possibility for the PDP fielding a weak candidate to ensure victory for Soz. Not only this: even the separatists do not find in Soz as their political enemy.This could also help Soz to make it to the Lok Sabha. But if the Congress high command is keen to see the National Conference win two of three Lok Sabha seats from the Kashmir valley it should favour mandate for Soz for contesting the Rajya Sabha seat. If the recent Assembly election results are any guide the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat seems to be a safe constituency for the PDP.Even in 2004 its candidate, Mehbooba Mufti, bagged the seat with comfortable majority of votes. If the Congress does not force its candidate on the National Conference it can expect much help from the party headed by Farooq Abdllah in the Jammu region. That the National Conference has areas of influence in the Jammu region cannot be disputed. As such its support to the Congress candidates in Jammu-Poonch and Kathua-Udhampur constituencies could help its candidate in blunting the BJP strength.
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