news details |
|
|
| Tale of two Choudharies may create history for the ruling coalition in J&K | | NC drops top crowd puller in valley, Cong dumps a veteran in Jammu | | Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
SRINAGAR, Jul 11: Twenty-eight candidates of different political parties had secured more than 20,000 votes each while contesting and winning the Assembly elections of 2008 in Jammu & Kashmir. They did not include veterans like Dr Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Mehbooba Mufti etcetera. Eighteen of them were from Jammu, nine from the Valley and one from Ladakh region. In the Valley of 46 segments, NC’s four-time MLA Choudhary Mohammad Ramzan was one-odd winner among the top 10 positions in the state in terms of total votes polled and several other indicators of distinction. Ramzan created a history not only by arranging his party’s largest election rally for Omar Abdullah but also by polling a sizeable 27,907 votes---highest in Kashmir.
In the 20,000-plus category in his party, Ramzan was followed by his senior Abdul Rahim Rather (24,579) and his junior Mohammad Akbar Lone (20,108). While Rather had been genuinely picked up for the number two position--- after the Chief Minister--- on the day of formation of the coalition government on January 5th this, a tailored-for-the-job Lone was installed as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly a month later.
One among the top five veterans in NC, Ramzan was not inducted as a Minister in January but thousands of his die-hard supporters had pinned their hopes on the much-elusive Cabinet expansion that finally happened today. As the crest-fallen NC leader returned to his Srinagar residence empty-handed from the swearing-in ceremony at SKICC this evening, scores of his stanch followers cried bitterly, ripped their own shirts and asked: “Where are Omar Abdullah’s promises of making you the most important member of his cabinet? Did we deserve this kind of a cruel humiliation for sacrificing 156 of our workers for this party? For polling maximum number of votes in all elections for National (Conference)?”
While 32-year-old Sajjad Ahmed did swear to commit suicide, a 28-year-old Sikh youth seemed to be a little more impulsive: “I want to kill them all in a bomb blast”. He narrated how thousands of Ramzan’s followers had kept NC’s flag high in Handwara against heavy odds---ranging from more than 150 deaths caused by separatist militants to creating a decisive dent in the Peoples Conference (PC) stronghold, created and retained for decades by late Abdul Gani Lone. Ramzan faces a tough time in preventing his vociferous voters from making anti-NC and anti-Omar expressions. Their last demand: “Resign and contest the elections afresh. We will dare them (NC leadership) to even get a candidate”.
Well-placed political sources insist that Chief Minister has actually punished Ramzan for the latter’s refusal of taking over as Speaker in January this year. According to these sources, Omar had later made up his mind of taking Ramzan’s in-house rival Mir Saifullah (MLA Kupwara) into his Council of Ministers but the party patron, Dr Farooq Abdullah, as well as General Secretary, Sheikh Nazir Ahmed, were strongly in favour of Ramzan’s induction. Omar glossed over Ramzan’s absence when journalists wanted to know, at a press briefing after the oath-taking, why NC had given no representation to its major votebank of Kupwara district. “We have still a couple of vacancies”, he said.
Five-time MLA from Surankote, Choudhary Mohammad Aslam has an unmatched profile among all the 17 MLAs of Congress party. He was functioned as a Minister, Speaker of Assembly, Member of Rajya Sabha as also President of Jammu & Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) in the last over four decades of his political career. Springing a major surprise, Omar instead inducted Congress party’s MLC and one-time Minister R S Chib. “We have had no interference in our coalition partner’s list. It’s Congress which selected Mr Chib and others of his party for the Ministerial berths”, said a senior NC leader.
Like Choudhary Ramzan, Choudhary Aslam has a long history of sacrifices for his party. He did not waste a minute in taking the decision of resigning as head of Congress Legislature Party after returning from SKICC. While announcing his resignation at a hurriedly called news conference, Aslam complained that he had been “humiliated”. He said that his party’s MLC from Poonch, Jehangir Mir, would rush to New Delhi and take up the matter of not inducting him as a Minister with the Congress high command. Asked why he would not settle the matter with JKPCC chief, Saifuddin Soz, and Ghulam Nabi Azad, Aslam said that he was left with no faith in the state leadership of Congress.
When a reporter pointed out that Soz had announced him a senior position in the Gujjar & Bakerwal Board---equivalent to the rank of a Cabinet Minister---Aslam observed that it was a worse humiliation. He, however, clarified that he would think about resigning as a basic member of Congress and MLA only after learning about a response from AICC chief, Mrs Sonia Gandhi. He said that he had raised Congress brick-by-brick in the last forty years and he would not take a hasty decision. He sought to make it clear that he was taking up the matter of his non-inclusion into the Cabinet on “compelling insistence of thousands of my voters and followers”. He complained that nobody in AICC or JKPCC had discussed with him anything regarding today’s expansion of the Council of Ministers.
Reports said that Omar Abdullah’s cabinet expansion had brought cheer to MLA Budgam Aga Syed Ruhullah and MLA Gulab Garh, Abdul Gani Malik who had not expected to get a berth in the top rung of the Council of Ministers. But, on the other hand, Dr Mustafa Kamal was reportedly upset over his non-inclusion and more on the induction of his arch rival in Tangmarg, Ghulam Hassan Mir. MLA Batmaloo, Irfan Shah, who had trounced the PDP stalwart, Tariq Hameed Qarra, in Assembly elections has also failed to get a place. His far senior, Mubarak Gul, who was founder President of Youth Federation (Youth NC) in 1977, has been once more ignored.
Reports said that NC’s MLA from Kishtwar, Sajjad Kichloo, who was the only winner of Omar’s party in Doda-Banihal belt, was equally disillusioned. His brother and NC’s District President, Tanvir Kichloo, has immediately resigned in protest.
NC’s decision of dropping all the three contenders from Poonch-Rajouri belt---Radhay Sham Sharma, Rachhpal Singh and Aijaz Jan---giving no representation to Kashmiri Pandits and dumping MLC Vijay Bakaya as also picking up “friends and green hands” merely on the basis of proximity and not on merits has also caused palpable resentment in his party.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
