news details |
|
|
| PDP may make excitement in Congress camp short-lived | | Post-Poaching | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Jan 23: The excitement in the congress camp over the joining of a former Minister and a senior PDP leader, Manjit Singh, in the Congress may prove a shortlived affair as the PDP leadership has agreed to allow a large number of Congressmen and some former legislators to join the party led by Mehbooba Mufti.
Well the induction of Manjit Singh is definitely a loss for the PDP and the National Conference. Manjit has been an influential leader in Vijaypur constituency. He had won the 2002 Assembly election from Vijaypur by polling 25406 votes against Surjit Singh Slathia of the National Conference who had secured 20329 votes. Slathia had won the election from the same constituency in 1996.Sources close to Manjit Singh said that two factors weighed heavy on Manjit Singh when he decided to quit the PDP and join the Congress. First, he had come to believe that he lost the 2008 election from Vijaypur because of the role played by the PDP in first getting the land diversion order to the Amarnath Shrine Board revoked. The sources said that during the long agitation in the Jammu region the PDP had come in for sharp criticism and ridicule and that should have been the reason for his defeat because he had been fielded on the PDP ticket. Interestingly people in Vijaypur constituency had remained in the forefront of the agitation against cancellation of the land diversion order.
Secondly, Manjit had developed a feeling that since he lost the election he had been sidelined by the party leadership when he used to be the Mufti's man.It was Mufti Sayeed who inducted Manjit in the council of ministers he headed between 2002 and 2005 and again it was the Mufti who had included Manjit in the PDP list that had been sent to Ghulam Nabi Azad for inclusion in the council of ministers. Manjit Singh felt insulted when the PDP leadership did not field him for any seat in the legislative council when it had given council seats to some of the party leaders who had been defeated in the 2008 Assembly election.This way to ensure a safe political future Manjit joined the Congress. The Congress leadership did not waste a minute in accepting Manjit in the organisation. In fact some supporters of Manjit had broached the issue of Manjit's willingness to join the Congress and the Congress leadership grabbed the opportunity so that through Manjit it could cause erosion in the strength of the National Conference.
When a senior PDP leader, Nizam-ud-Din Bhat, was asked to comment on Manjit's decision to join the congress he said "such bad precedences have already been set up in the state." Without further elaborating he said "it is bad politics." However, inside reports said that the PDP leadership has not cherished the role of the Congress in wooing Manjit Singh. One party MLA, who wished to remain unidentified, said that hitherto Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had refused to open the party doors for a large number of Congressmen to join the PDP. The Mufti wanted to continue his good relations with the top Congress leaders in Delhi and in Jammu and Kashmir despite the fact that the Congress opted for an alliance with the National Conference. The party legislator said that after Manjit Singh was inducted in the Congress the PDP leadership will have no hesitation in throwing open its doors for congressmen. He said that more than 100 senior congressmen, most of them belonging to the
Kashmir valley, were keen to join the PDP.
A senior National Conference leader said that the party leadership may not have any hesitation in admitting some Congressmen in the party headed by Dr Farooq Abdullah. He said that from now onwards the Congress could be blamed for having ushered in an era of Aaaya Rams and Gya Rams in Jammu and Kashmir.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
