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| Coalition Of Disparate Outfits | | Fearing backlash Jammu Congress leaders in Delhi | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
Jammu, Jan 13: At a time when people have returned from different places to their homes in Jammu to celebrate Lohri, most of the Jammu province-based JKPCC office-bearers, presidents of district Congress Committees and some other party leaders have gone to Delhi to discuss with the central leadership the political situation in the state, organizational matters and factionalism within the party, the nature of the coalition government and issues of national import. What seems to have motivated these Congress leaders to go to the Union capital at this juncture is the possibility of the authorities in New Delhi of going by the interlocutors' controversial recommendations regarding the state, rumour that the present JKPCC chief might be replaced and the hostile attitude of the NC leaders, including the Chief Minister, towards the Congress party, as also to the Jammu province, which the Congress party considers its core constituency and strong support-base in the state.
According to reports, these Congress leaders, who are very close to the JKPCC chief Prof Saif-ud-Din Soz, have already met the Union Home Minister, Defence Minister and a couple of other senior party leaders. They have also been trying to meet the AICC president and the Prime Minister in order to convince them of the need to take them into confidence before taking any decision on the political future of the state. They do not share the NC's perception on the state. Nor do they appear appreciative of the interlocutors' approach to the state. They are on record saying that they are against the NC's demand for the pre-1953 politico-constitutional status, that they do want the Armed Forces Special Powers Act to be diluted in any form, that they want closer ties between the state and the Centre and that they want a solution that federalizes the state's polity and sets up in Jammu province an adequately empowered regional council.
It is a fact that none of these congress leaders has ever gone public raking up these issues. They have simply aired these views while responding to queries of reporters after their meeting with the interlocutors in Jammu some two months ago. They continue to stick to what they said that time but in private and in camera discussions. They are convinced that any move on the part of the authorities in New Delhi to endorse the interlocutors' line would not only jeopardize the national interests and strengthen the NC in the Kashmir Valley, but would also erode the credibility of the Congress party in Jammu province, where the BJP and the Panthers Party have already gone very aggressive. They are absolutely right.
Both the BJP and the Panthers Party have been trying their level best to identify themselves with the Jammu sentiment and accusing the Congress party of hobnobbing with the votaries of greater autonomy. In fact, both the Parties have been targeting the Congress and holding it squarely responsible for all that the NC has been systematically and willfully doing to harm the interests of Jammu and the country. These parties are raking up issues the Congress just can't afford to take up or oppose because the issues are such.
The Jammu-based Congress leaders are extremely angry with the NC leaders, including the Chief Minister, but they are not in a position to take on them because the high command has applied the brakes very tightly. They just can't open their mouth and criticize the party's post-election ally. They are against the policies being pursued by the NC, but they can't dare to oppose them publicly and share their sentiments with their Jammu constituency because they do not have any kind of independence. They know where the shoe is pinching and they know the quantum of damage the NC has been causing to the Congress party in Jammu province, but they can't say anything publicly. It was expected that they would toe the line as advocated by former Deputy Chief Minister Mangat Ram Sharma and Health Minister Sham Lal Sharma and come out openly demanding rotational chief minister-ship, or even the state's reorganization, but it has not happened and it is understandable. They have adopted a different approach. They feel they can convince the Congress high command of the need to adopt a new policy that safeguards the national interests as well as interests of the Congress, particularly in Jammu, and prevents the Kashmiri leadership from excluding Jammu province from the process aimed at resolving the "Kashmir issue."
They are also face to face with yet another piquant situation: The Kashmir-based Congress leaders are treading a different path. Their approach and the approach of the NC leaders to the issues facing the Kashmir Valley is identical. The fact of the matter is that the Jammu province-based and Kashmir region-based Congress leaders are vertically divided into two groups. The situation has reached a point that one of the Congress ministers hailing from Kashmir publicly made common cause with the Chief Minister and declared that he would hold the office for a full term of six years.
Thus, the issues confronting the Jammu-based Congress leadership are many. Their difficulties, limitations and compulsions are also many. They want the continuation of Saif-ud-din Soz as JKPCC president for another term; they want the party high command and the Union Government not to put all of their eggs in the NC's basket; they want the Jammu's empowerment; they want action against the azad loyalists; and they want the interlocutors not to put forth suggestions which could snowball into a major controversy in Jammu and render the Congress party in this province irrelevant. |
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