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| Omar’s Jharkhand jaunt blurs NC-Cong divide | | |
ABID SHAH
NEW DELHI, DEC 10: The other day the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah sprang a surprise of sorts by joining in the brisk electioneering in far off eastern State of Jharkhand.
This move is being seen here on the part of Congress for whose candidates Omar sought votes in the Assembly polls that are slated to culminate on December 18 as a last ditch effort to face the formidable clout of Naxalites that spreads through large swaths of the State.
To make the Congress voice sound credible Omar shared dais with Congress leaders since the National Conference leader is Chief Minister of a strife torn State and Jharkhand too faces trouble and strife albeit of a different kind.
The main difference between the western border and eastern State of Jharkhand is that the Centre pumps in large sums for Jammu and Kashmir whereas in case of Jharkhand the Congress-led Centre do not have an easy access to do the same as Ranchi ever since getting a State Assembly has been run by squabbling coalitions.
Omar’s move was also meant to flaunt a more cohesive coalition between National Conference and Congress which is able to speak in one voice vis-à-vis militancy, trouble and strife that have been endemic in case of Jammu and Kashmir.
Thus, Omar along with Congress leaders climbed up the podium on Wednesday at Daltonganj where former Maoist leader Satish Kumar is challenging Congress on a ticket given by Jharkhand Mukti Morcha or JMM for short.
Similarly, at Panki where Omar spoke the same day a former Maoist area commander Ranjan alias Keshwar Yadav has been fielded on Lalu Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) ticket.
Yadav is presently lodged in Latehar Jail of the State and had contested last parliamentary elections on CPI-ML ticket from Chatra Lok Sabha seat. Its Panki Assembly segment had given him sizeable votes in last midsummer Lok Sabha polls and, thus, he is trying his luck once again in Assembly elections.
An election being fought amid such grim settings must have reminded Congress higher ups of Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir where former area commanders of some of the militant organisations take to electoral battle, point out sources here while trying to explain Omar’s joining of the Jharkhand campaign.
Moreover, sources say that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is thought to be better placed in Jharkhand elections this time than the Congress. And, thus, Congress needed to attempt to swing the balance in its favour by wooing Muslims through presenting before them a Muslim Chief Minister supported by the Congress though in a State as distant from Daltonganj as Jammu and Kashmir. Muslims have a sizeable presence in towns like Hussainabad where Omar delivered a speech during his Wednesday jaunt to Jharkhand besides Japla.
His joining the Congress campaign also signifies a deepening of bonds between National Conference and Congress, say the sources here while adding that whatever may be the outcome of the Assembly polls in Jharkhand Omar has made his mark in Congress circles more than any of the Congress Chief Ministers could think of by touring far and wide in Jharkhand to give a helping had to an otherwise not a very well positioned party in the Assembly polls this time. |
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