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| Cong opposed to altering three-year old political arrangement in J&K | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Feb 15: Notwithstanding the fact that the alliance between the National Conference and the Congress in Jammu and Kashmir has turned brittle after the recent episode connected with the resignation of Minister for School Education, Peerzada Mohd. Syeed, and its consequent rejection by the AICC Chief, Sonia Gandhi, to whom the letter was addressed, instructions have gone to senior Congress leaders in the state to avoid escalating any fresh conflict with the NC leadership which could break the ruling coalition.
It was under this tacit instruction from the Congress high command that soon after Sonia Gandhi turned down Peerzada's offer to quit the cabinet that the PCC Chief, Saif-ud-Din Soz, who otherwise has had strained relations with Omar Abdullah, announced that he fully supported the Chief Minister. Two days later the PHE Minister, Taj Mohiuddin, too voiced his support for Omar Abdullah.
Though Taj Mohiuddin's support for Omar was nothing new, the way Soz announced his support for Omar is said to be the result of fresh instructions from the party high command. Congress sources made it clear that the party high command, especially Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, besides the Union Home Minister, P. Chidambaram, are opposed to any change in the three-year old political arrangement in Jammu and Kashmir. Their plea is that Omar has been able to deliver the goods despite a difficult political and fiscal atmosphere.
The leadership of the Congress unit in Jammu and Kashmir is aware of the extent of conflict between the Congress and the National Conference, it has been left with no other option but to support the NC in the interest of survival of the coalition Government. The Congress could have explored the possibility of reforging alliance with the PDP because the experiment of the Congress-PDP alliance between 2002 and 2008 had been successful except for the Amarnath land row period. But the response from the PDP to such a proposal has not been unconditional. The PDP would like to extend its support from outside to the Congress Government only when there is a firm commitment on holding early Assembly elections. The Congress high command continues to be against midterm poll in the troubled state.
Several Congress leaders seem to be nostalgic about the smooth relations the party had with the PDP for about five years which was totally in contrast with the occasional stress in the Congress-NC alliance.
Inside reports said that the Congress high command is aware of the those intelligence agency inputs which indicate that the NC leadership was exploring the possibility of running the Government on its own in Jammu and Kashmir. Two possibilities, reports said, were being explored by the NC leadership for being able to run the show without sharing power with the Congress.
The first option, which the NC leadership may explore, was to secure outside support from the Congress. The second option being forming the Government with the support of the BJP rebels, some independent MLAs and those belonging to the Panthers Party. However, current indications are that the NC leadership may not succeed in either of the two experiments thereby making it necessary for the party headed by Dr Farooq Abdullah to maintain the ties with the Congress.
Informed circles in the National Conference said that as far as the second option of forming the Government with the support or involvement of the non-Congress and non-PDP MLAs was concerned the NC leadership will never opt for this experiment. They said this experiment may not prove durable in the state and in that case Dr Farooq may lose his seat in the Union Cabinet.
Since 1984, when the duly elected Government led by Farooq Abdullah, was dislodged through defections engineered by the Congress the NC President has pledged to be by the right side of the central Government irrespective of the party or the parties that are in power. And Farooq Abdullah stood by his pledge when he supported the BJP led NDA Government which had facilitated his son, Omar Abdullah, to be a member of the union Council of Ministers.
Reports said that the Congress high command may open its cards after the poll results in five states were announced. If the Congress failed to win power in three out of five states it may opt for defensive postures towards the National Conference and if it won power in UP, Punjab and Uttarakhand it may not allow its unit in Jammu and Kashmir to play the second fiddle to Omar Abdullah. |
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