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| Rotational chief minister in J&K | | Congress Doomed | | Rustam
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, June 30 : Prime Minister (PM) Manmohan Singh yesterday told five leading editors of leading dailies that "there was a decision of the Congress high command that (National Conference) would have a full-term as Chief Minister. We have not done anything to reverse that decision." Actually, the PM said so in response to a question to the effect that there was a question of rotational chief minister in Jammu and Kashmir." Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had also made an almost identical statement on June 18 at Pulwama (Kashmir) to dispel the impression that he might be asked by the Congress to quit the top executive position at the end of this year, when he would complete three years in office. He had made this statement after meeting the PM in New Delhi on June 16. On June 21, Home Minister P Chidambaram had also declared at Pahalgam (Kashmir) that the Congress and the centre were happy with the CM and that he would continue to rule the state for full term of six years.
What had prompted or provoked Omar Abdullah to meet the PM and make such an assertion were three developments, all unfolding on the same day, June 13. One was that senior Congress leader and former Sadar-e-Riyasat of J&K Karan Singh assured the Congress leaders and workers at Srinagar that he would take up the issue of rotational chief minister with Congress high command (in this case Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi). However, what had reassured the local Congress leaders, including some very senior JKPCC functionaries, all the more were the unequivocal statements of Singh that the continuation of the present arrangement for a full term of six years would culminate in the reduction in the vote share of the Congress in the state and that it was he who had persuaded the Congress high command to replace Mufti Mohammad Sayeed as chief minister with some Congress leader in November 2005.
The other development was the open attack of another senior Congress leader and former Union minister M L Fotedar on Omar Abdullah. He had ridiculed the Chief Minister saying that the accession of J&K with India was final and irrevocable; that Omar Abdullah was not even born when the accession took place; and that the Mufti's rule was a golden era in the state. The third development was the statement of JKPCC chief Saif-ud-Din Soz. Soz told the protagonists of rotational chief minister in the presence of Karan Singh that sensitive issues should be raked up in such party functions and that it was for the Congress high command to take a final view on the issue. He also assured the protesting Congress leaders and workers that he would take up the issue with the Congress high command. In other words, Soz didn't overrule the possibility of the Congress high command asking Omar Abdullah to abdicate authority in favour of a Congressman.
Now that the PM has told the five editors that "we have not done anything to reverse that decision", it is time to ask the question will the PM's statement silence the votaries of rotational chief minister? It is complicated question and, hence, there cannot be a definite answer to this question. However, one can surely conclude that the Congress would suffer enormous political losses in case there is no change of guard in the state on January 5, 2012. It can also be said that Sonia and Rahul are there to damage the Congress prospects in the state.
However, to say all this is not to suggest that the game is over for the Congress in the state, notwithstanding the fact that there are Congress ministers in the NC-led coalition government who would want the present arrangement to continue. For, they perhaps believe that the new incumbent may not consider them for ministerial berth and their apprehension seems to be well-founded. The votaries of rotational chief minister can still turn the tables subject to the condition that they would follow in the footsteps of their counterparts in Telangana (Andhra Pradesh). It all depend upon what the protagonists of rotational chief minister finally do to make the Congress high command yield to their demand, which appears quite reasonable. Right now, it can be said that Omar Abdullah is better placed. |
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