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| No rotation but dreams full tenure | | Azad returns to limelight, now PM’s man | |
Syed Junaid Hashmi
Early Times Report
JAMMU, Feb 18: Former Chief Minister and presently, union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad’s frequent visits to Jammu and Kashmir are not without reason and if his close confidants are to be believed, he is vying for coveted post of J&K Chief Minister again.
Though Azad publicly denounced this option during a press conference here, insiders affirm that former Chief Minister is expecting a call back home for next assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir whenever they are held. They assert that reason Azad’s new found confidence is Prime Minister authorizing him to talk to the NDA and the Left before the start of the Budget Session of Parliament.
Prime Minister has reportedly tasked Azad to break the deadlock over joint parliamentary probe into the 2G spectrum scam and ensure that forthcoming budget session is not wasted like the winter Session. Insiders maintain that immediately after being given the task, Azad met CPI's A.B. Bardhan, CPI (M)'s Sitaram Yechury and JD (U)'s Sharad Yadav last week, all of whom assured Azad of their cooperation.
Sources added that after talking to Azad, they indicated him of not boycotting the President’s address. Besides, they also reassured him of their willingness to discuss probe by a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) on the condition that there wouldn't be any voting. These leaders further asked Azad to ensure that pledge for JPC probe should come from Pranab Mukherjee who is leader of the house.
Sources further added that whether or not Azad’s dream of returning to Jammu and Kashmir would come true depends on the upcoming budget session. They added that if Azad’s political strategy succeeds in keeping the opposition at bay during ensuing budget session especially in the wake of serious allegations of corruption and nepotism surfacing against several ministers including Prime Minister, he is likely to be back in demand.
Sources disclosed that Azad had been repeatedly pleading with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi to relieve him of the portfolio of Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare. They said that Azad wants to work within the party, something which he had been doing before being sent to Jammu and Kashmir in the year 2005 for heading the then Congress-PDP coalition government.
Sources added that Azad has requested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to give him a lighter portfolio which could allow him to work within the party. They said that Azad wants to be returned his choicest portfolio of law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, which according him is lighter and addresses his political ambitions.
Party insiders in New Delhi said that presently, it is the reluctance and refusal of UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and General Secretary Rahul Gandhi to intervene in the affairs of Jammu and Kashmir congress which is virtually divided into Soz and Azad groups, which has prevented much anticipated and oft repeated political upheaval in the state.
Sources disclosed that with both factions of J&K congress bringing its heartburn over the decision of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to hold Panchayat elections on non-party basis in the state into the notice of party high command, a twist to the story of the recent Farooq and Omar’s pronouncements of no rotational Chief Minister and coalition completing its tenure is on cards in the next couple of months.
Sources further said that Congress leaders have termed this decision a clever political move of National Conference (NC) leadership. They added that had the Panchayat elections been held in party basis, good performance of congress would have increased pressure on congress high command to return to formula of rotational Chief Minister.
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