news details |
|
|
| Congress too weak to force NC to empower Panchayats | | | That the PDP patron,Mufti Mohd. Sayeed, has held the Congress,which shares powers with the National Conference in Jammu and Kashmir, equally responsible for weakening democratic institutions by delaying in empowering the Panchayats seems to be the main opposition's first attack on the Congress during the last over three years.
The PDP patron's criticism of the ruling coalition for failure to strengthen the democrartic institutions does not seem to be invalid. During the last one year,after the Panchayat elections were completed,a demand has been raised from various political quarters for incorporating the 73rd and 74th amendment in the Panchayat Act.
Even weeks before the polling for Panchayat elections various political quarters hadd demanded that these amendments be included in the Panchayat Raj Act. However, the ruling coalition has ignored this demand.
One cannot deny the fact that as a partner in the ruling coalition the Congress has been airing its views for strengthening and empowering the Panchayat system in Jammu and Kashmir. The PCC, Chief, Saif-ud-Din Soz, lent support to the demand for incorporating 73rd and 74th amendments to the Panchayat Raj Act.If it is so what then Mufti expects from the Congress ? Mufti Sayeed simply wants Congress to exert pressure on the National Conference so that Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, accepted the demand ffor empowering the Panchayats.As such the Mufti is not wrong because he too wants the Panchayat system to be strengthened which would mean strengthening of the democratic institutions.
When one talks about strengthening of democratic institutions one would prefer to see the process getting started from empowering the Panchayats because these bodies serve as the foundation for the entire democratic institutions.What seems to worry the Mufti is the silence on the part of the Congress over the delay in setting up district and block committees even after the Panchayat elections had been completed last year.
It seeems that the Mufti wants the Congress to force the NC leadership to concede the demand for empowering Panchayats.Any further delay may tarnish the image of the Congress as it is in power in Jammu and Kashmir.Can the state unit of the Congress mount pressure on the NC leadership about empowering the Panchayats and about holding the civic elections as early as possible ? Possibilities are remote.
Since the state unit of the Congress has to function in line with the policy adopted by the party high command vis-a-vis the National Conference it will assert its authority only when told by Delhi.
Congress is an equal partner in the ruling coalition in Jammu and Kashmir but it has been forced to play the second fiddle to Omar Abdullah because New Delhi in general and the Congress high command in particular are opposed in disturbing the present political arrangement.
Omar knows it well and tthat is one of the reasons for him to avoid taking the state unit of the Congress, especially the PCC Chief,Saif-ud-Din Soz seriously.
The other reason being groupism in the Congress which have given rise to a conflict between the loyalists, headed by Soz, and the dissidents led by Ghulam Nabi Azad.Despite this the Congress needs to take notice of Mufti Sayeed's warning. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
