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| Taj dares Soz, says Omar to remain CM for full term | | Congress A Divided House | | Rustam
JAMMU, Nov 27: PHE minister Taj Mhi-ud-Din continues to hold his ground and contradict JKPCC president Prof Saif-ud-Din Soz and other JKPCC functionaries, including vice-presidents and general secretaries. Besides extending unqualified support to the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's November 23 Jammu suggestion that his government would amend the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC) to bring it at par with the Indian Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) in order to provide legal protection to the armed forces involved in counter-insurgency operations in the state, Mohi-ud-Din yesterday once again asserted that the power-sharing formula reached between the NC and the Congress in 2008-2009 had clearly suggested that Omar Abdullah would occupy the Chief Minister's office for a full term of six years and that the formula didn't envisage rotational Chief minister-ship. He justified his stand saying the AICC president Sonia Gandhi has said so.
Mhi-ud-Din's stand had evoked a very strong reaction last month from the Congress' rank and file, with some of them even dismissing him as a NC man in the Congress party. Even Prof Soz had not taken kindly to his stand on the AFSPA and the issue of rotational chief minister-ship. Prof Soz had said "let him live in his own world; my job is to strengthen the Congress in the state". It happened just before Mohi-ud-Din left for Haj.
The Mohi-ud-Din's stand is inconsistent with the stand of the JKPCC president, Prof Soz. Prof Soz has always maintained that it is for the Congress high command to take a final call on the issue. He has always sought to cool the temperature and conciliate the protagonists of rotational chief minister-ship saying that he would convey their feelings to the party high command. This clearly means that the issue of rotational chief minister-ship still remains unresolved.
The JKPCC president's interviews to the various local dailies and his observations on the issue, including his unambiguous statement that the PDP-Congress coalition had worked quite well and that the possibility of tie-up with any political party could not be overruled, clearly suggested that the game was still wide open. But more than that, the JKPCC president's statement that the Chief Minister had been "indulging in sectarian politics, instead of focusing on issues of governance," was more than an indication of the direction things had been moving towards.
Besides, the very strong statements made by one of the JKPCC vice-presidents and one of the JKPCC general secretaries on November 18 and 19, respectively, had created an impression that the Congress had finally decided to show the NC the door. The JKPCC vice-president had dismissed the NC as a party of "traitors" and declared that the Congress would expose the NC. The JKPCC general secretary had not only dismissed the NC as a party of "bluffers" but had also charged it with subverting the institutions dealing with national security. He had also urged the high command to replace the Omar Abdullah-led government with the Congress-led government saying his government had failed to deliver. Not only this, he had described the NC as a party of those who believe and practice "soft separatism".
These developments do suggest that all is not well with the Congress party. Factionalism and contradictory stands taken by senior leaders do not augur well for the health of the Congress party. It is the duty of the leadership to rein in those damaging the party from within and outside and promoting the cause of those most of the Congress leaders and cadres want to throw out lock, stock and barrel. It's a litmus test for the JKPCC in general and its president in particular, who has been doing his level best to strengthen the party across the state. Besides, it is time for the Congress to take their constituencies into confidence - constituencies which had voted against the controversial NC - before taking a final decision on the issue. To ignore these constituencies would be only to cause an irreparable damage to the Congress party, especially in Jammu province. |
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