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| Factional war in Congress music to NC ears | | | Even the Gandhi Jayanti celebrations, held in Jammu on Sunday, and could not bring about reconciliation between the two main factions in the state unit of the Congress. When the two sides, one led by PCC Chief,Saif-ud-Din Soz, and the other by Union Health Minister,Ghulam Nabi Azad,held separate functions in connection with the Gandhi Jayanti celebrations it demonstrated that the wedge between the two sides has been further widened. The chasm between the two has widened so much that the two sides hold different views on certain issues.Two months ago a former Deputy Chief Minister,Mangat Ram Sharma, had demanded that the experiment on rotational Chief Ministership,that had been conducted in 2002,be repeated. This demand had support from a sizeable section of the leaders of the state unit of the Congress owing allegiance to Soz.And when Azad found that Mangat Ram Sharma had ditched his camp by joining the faction led by Soz he on Sunday ruled out the possibility of
repeating rotational chief Ministership. Not only this: Azad camp has fears that if the party high command conceded the demand for rotational Chief Ministership Soz could head the Government. Hence Azad thought it politically wise to oppose rotational Chief Ministership on the plea that when the National Confer ence and the Congress coalition Government was formed it had been agreed by the two sides that the NC candidate would be allowed to function as Chief Minister for the full six-year term.
However,Soz,on the other hand, did not fully agree with Azad when he said in Jammu on Sunday that the issue pertaining to the change of guard could be decided by the Congress high command. While saying so he made it clear that he had no ambition for occupying the Chief Minister's chair. This is one instance which goes to show that the two factions of the Congress are not prepared to see eye to eye on various issues concerning the state. As far as the two separate functions held by the rival factions of the Congress during the Gandhi Jayanti celebrations in Jammu on Sunday are concerned each side claimed bigger response from the people. Supporters of the camp led by Azad claimed that the crowd at their rally at Parade grounds was bigger than the rally organised by the loyalists on the outskirts of the city. But the loyalists countered this argument saying that their rally was limited to only the workers of the Congress right from the district
to the
state level whereas the one held at parade grounds was open for general public which meant that majority of those who were at the parade grounds were people who were neither congress workers nor its supporters.
Reports indicate that people who watched the two factions fight out with arguments, charges and counter charges were simply trying to weaken the Congress base in the state, especially in the Jammu region. The Sunday rallies should have helped the party high command to identify senior party leaders who were with Soz and those who were in the Azad led camp. This way it should not be difficult for the party high command to keep the dissidents under scanner. The party leadership has been urging the congress leaders and workers in Jammu and Kashmir to defeat the machinations of the BJP which was trying to foment communalism and regionalism. Is it possible for the state unit of the Congress, which has been plagued by groupism,to counter the BJP propaganda and its machinations ?Possibly not. And even those among the common people who would have wished to strengthen the Congress may have developed second thought after watching the two factions
engaged in a grim fight for supremacy. As long as the Congress continues to be plagued by factionalism its partner, the National Conference, would be able to enjoy absolute power in the state. The NC leadership in general and the Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, would be able to see their ideas and policies see the light of the day even to the disappointment of the Congress. The latest instance is the Congress giving in to the NC strategy on the issue of incorporation of 73rd and 74th amendment in the state Panchayati Raj |Act. At one stage the state unit of the Congress threatened to boycott the Panchayat poll if the two amendments were not incorporated in the Panhcayati Raj Act.It has yielded to the NC pressure and agreed to allow the poll to be held after it was assured that amendments would be carried out at a later stage.
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