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| Azad fomenting troubles in Congress | | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, JAN 19: Former Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad quit the state politics after the formation of the second Congress-led UPA Government and became Health Minister. It was expected that he will leave the Congress affairs to the care of the JKPCC President Prof Saif-ud-Din Soz and not create troubles for the coalition government. It turned out to be a wrong expectation as he continued to make forays in the state and hobnobbed with the detractors of the JKPCC President.
So much so, he tried to hobnob with the People’s Democratic Party in order to destabilize the coalition government in the state. The insiders reveal that though Azad became the Union Health Minister, he continued to cherish the dream of again becoming the State Chief Minister.
On its part, the People’s Democratic Party had publicly stated that it was prepared to extend unconditional support to the Congress government. Its target was the National Conference. Had the Congress high command not rejected this kind of politicking and accepted the People’s Democratic Party’s offer, Ghulam Nabi Azad would have again become the Chief Minister.
The open letter that Azad wrote a couple of months ago – portions of which were reproduced in a local English daily – was an indication of the extent of his frustration, as also an indication of the extent to which he was feeling suffocated in the national politics as well as an indication that he had not changed himself according to the changed situation.
Even when he was Chief Minister, he was encouraging factionalism with the party with a view to cut the JKPCC President to size and create an impression in the 10 Janpath that Prof Saif-ud-Din Soz was not competent for the job and that the JKPCC President was a National Conference man in his heart of hearts. He used the services of certain Kashmir-based Congress leaders for the purpose who would openly accuse the JKPCC President of behaving in a manner unsuitable for the growth and expansion of the Congress party in Kashmir province in particular.
Similarly, he patronized and encouraged certain disgruntled elements in the Jammu province to create troubles for the JKPCC President and create dissensions within the party. He did not allow the Congress to function as a cohesive and disciplined party. These disgruntled elements used to organize parallel functions much against the wishes of the JKPCC and they continue to do so even now. Reports to this effect appear in the various dailies even now and at regular intervals, thus making the common people and the Congress workers believe that the Congress party in the state is a divided house. It is not a secret.
The worst part of the kind of politics Azad played was that he didn’t take care of anyone of those who sided with him or who are still siding with him. He left each one of them in a lurch and the result is that they have become quite marginalized. Though they still continue to remain on the right side of Azad, they hate him from the core of their heart and blame him for their pathetic position within the organization.
On the other hand, the JKPCC President has been able to establish his control over the JKPCC, barring a couple of disgruntled elements. Most of the ministers, most of the JKPCC functionaries and most of the party workers are with the JKPCC President. The manner in which the JKPCC President and his team are working shows that Azad has virtually become irrelevant in the state politics in general and for the JKPCC in particular. Sources close to the party also indicate that some of the close associates of Azad have started meeting Prof Saif-ud-Don Soz, but secretly, and that the JKPCC President is also trying to establish his contacts with some of them. It would not be a surprise if one fine morning news appear in the papers that the Azad’s men have finally changed their loyalty and jumped on to the Soz bandwagon.
Ghulam Nabi Azad is himself responsible for the kind of attitude most of the Congress leaders and workers have adopted towards him. It is too well known that Azad as President of the JKPCC and the State Chief Minister had not treated even certain Congress ministers and legislators well. There was a complaint that the Chief Minister would make certain ministers to sit outside for several hours and then meet them. There was also a complaint that on several occasions he even refused to talk to his ministerial colleagues. The fact of the matter is that the Congress workers hold Azad responsible for the collapse of the Congress-led government in the state in July 2008 as well as for the poor performance during the last assembly elections.
One of the oft-repeated charge against Ghulam Nabi Azad was that he never trusted anyone and that he wanted to do everything himself. As a result, the Congress government could not deliver to the extent it should have delivered.
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