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| Parties break 'intriguing' silence, begin mudslinging after 3 days | | Onus on Omar to prove innocence: Mehbooba hits out at CM | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Apr 16: After maintaining 'intriguing' silence for three days, the political parties in J&K have now resorted to mudslinging on expected lines against each over the Legislative Council cross voting, an issue that has put the question mark on the 'fidelity and morality' of almost all the parties which were in fray in the polls.
A day after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah washed off hands and challenged to prove coalition involvement, his rival PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti retorted that onus lied with him only to prove his innocence. In the vicious circle of castigation rhetoric, while Congress blamed and condemned Panthers Party for supporting PDP, the former slammed BJP for what it alleged BJP's nefarious mission and agenda against the interests of Jammu.
What however made the scene look like rivals once again taking on each other was a hard hitting and pointed statement of Mehbooba Mufti against Chief Minister in particular. Breaking its silence, opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) hit out at Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, and said he owes an explanation to the people as to how cross-voting took place in the legislative council elections.
PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti contested Omar Abdullah's claim that the ruling coalition had nothing to do with the episode of seven of the 11 Bharatiya Janata Party legislators voting for candidates of the ruling National Conference-Congress combine in the election Wednesday. The 'onus in on Omar to establish his innocence,' she said.
'How could anyone other than the parties involved in the shady deal be privy to it?' she asked.
On the other hand, Abdullah, talking to media persons here on the sidelines of a function today, said the coalition had not indulged in any unfair practices, and also attributed the alleged 'cash-for-votes' controversy to the media.
Slamming the chief minister's response, Mehbooba Mufti said: 'His challenge to the media to prove the case of cash-for-votes in the council elections is more 'filmi' than political.'
The chief minister as head of the coalition that benefited from cross-voting needed to come clean on the scandal, she said.
'If the extra votes polled by the coalition candidates were not purchased, then the question becomes even more serious,' she said, wondering whether it was 'revival of old friendship' - a reference to the period when the National Conference was partner of the BJP in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Mehbooba said the chief minister was 'insulting the intelligence of the people if he thought he would be taken for his word on the issue'.
'How is it possible that the BJP votes are shared in a way that both coalition candidates get 30 each, unless there was a proper floor management and understanding between the parties? she asked.
'And that understanding doesn't come free or without an understanding,' she alleged.
Claiming that the present coalition's functioning had always been 'disastrous for the state', Mehbooba said the council elections threw up questions of greater importance than mere winning or losing a seat.
'It could shake the foundations of multi-party democracy in a state that has still to go a long way in establishing the credentials of democratic institutions and for which the people are engaged in a serious and long struggle.'
'If the NC-led coalition could throw to winds all political morality and propriety for a mere council seat, how would it be behave when it came to safeguarding the interests of the state,' she asked.
On the other hand R.S. Pathania, senior Vice-President, P.Y.C. in the backdrop of casting of votes by the Panthers Party MLAs in favour of the PDP in the LC elections and criticized the party alleging it was playing double while raising issues in favour of Jammu. The Youth Congress leader said PDP is strongly opposing the decision of the Revenue Department for issuance of Dogra Certificates while as Panthers Party appears to be vocal and strongly advocating it in favour of the people of Jammu. "The president of PDP,Mehbooba Mufti, could not be easily forgotten for disturbing the peaceful atmosphere of the state over a non-issue called as 'Amarnath land row' and by stoking fires of regional tensions and communal disharmony", Pathania said whiel addressing party workers adding that Panthers supremo has many a time dubbed the organization as an anti-national and anti-social one. He had also opted out of the previous coalition after submitting a letter to the governor alleging therein that he and his party cannot remain in coalition with a party whose agenda is totally anti-India and anti-Jammu. He had also taken the same stand with the Prime Minister too." If they consider PDP is anti-national and anti-Jammu, how come the self-styled 'saviours of Jammu' embrace its ideology and vote for it in the Legislative Council and even the last Rajya Sabha Polls", the Congress leader questioned.
Meanwhile, Chairman, National Panthers Party, Prof. Bhim Singh, called upon the people of J&K and particularly the people of Jammu to understand the mission, message and the agenda of his party.
"It is unfortunate that BJP earlier known as Jan Sangh and later as Janata Party have always exploited the people of Jammu in the name of various forms of opportunism. It was BJP leadership in J&K which played with genuine aspirations of the people of Jammu and finally sold out the movement to the Congress led State government," Prof Singh said in a statement.
"It was this party when they deliberately supported National Conference Rajya Sabha candidate in 2009 for material benefits. All the three MLAs of the Panthers Party voted for the BJP candidate of the Legislative Council openly whereas two of the BJP MLAs voted for Dr. Farooq Abdullah against their own candidate who was State President of BJP. The BJP leader Prof. Chaman Lal Gupta openly and staunchly defended and supported Chief Minister Omar Abdullah last year in an All Party Meeting convened and presided by Dr. Manmohan Singh," he added.
The JKNPP Chairman alleged that the charges of corruption, nepotism and secessionist bogey were raised by the Chief Minister himself when he declared that J&K was not integral part of India. "Surprisingly, BJP took stand in favour of the Chief Minister saying that the BJP would not allow an elected government to be dismissed as demanded by the JKNPP."
"The most shocking episode that puts the heads of entire political system to shame when seven MLAs of BJP out of 11 openly defied the so-called whip and voted for the Congress and NC candidates to ensure their victory against the opposition," he alleged. |
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