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| Degradation of Institutions | | Mufti did some plain speaking, called the Congress's bluff | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
Jammu, Apr 17: One may or may not endorse all the political formulations of the main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP). One may even question the PDP's self-rule formula and urge this party to revise its stand on its demand. We are a democratic polity and everyone in the country has the right to express his/her views freely subject, of course, to the condition that the sanctity of the institutions and Constitutional framework has to be maintained. What patron of the PDP and former J&K Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed said on Sunday in Kathua while addressing one-day convention of party workers needs to be viewed in this context and appreciated by one and all.
Taking on both the National Conference (NC) and its coalition partner Congress and calling the Congress's bluff, Mufti had held both the parties "equally and jointly responsible for the degradation and erosion of democratic institutions in the State". He was absolutely right. He had only spoken the truth and nothing but the truth. He had also hit the nail on the head by exposing the Congress and the kind of politics it had been indulging in over the 73rd and 74th Constitutional amendments to hoodwink and mislead the people. "The Congress leaders have been demanding extension of these two amendments in Jammu and Kashmir to strengthen Panchayati Raj institutions but the party (Congress), which is part of the Government, has failed to even convince its coalition partner to conduct elections of Block and District bodies," he had, among other things, said while calling the Congress's bluff.
It needs to be noted that the Congress leaders, barring almost all the Congress Ministers in the Government, have been bemoaning the negative attitude of the State Government towards the 73rd and 74th Constitutional amendments and urging the Government of which the Congress is an integral and crucial part to adopt and implement the same in order to empower the local bodied, including Panchayats. It is also important to underline that certain Congress and NC leaders are publicly taking on each other on this issue. Take, for example, the blistering attack of NC additional general secretary Mustafa Kamaal on the JKPCC president on this very issue. Kamaal had only a few days ago accused the Congress of flouting the cardinal principles of coalition dharma by publicly raising the issue of empowerment of local bodies and asked the Congress leadership not to indulge in mud-slinging.
What Kamaal had said was highly provocative and insulting. It was then hoped that the Congress party might retaliate with full force and show the NC its rightful place. It was also expected that the Congress might tell the NC leadership to behave failing which it would be left with no other option but to come out of the Government or withdraw support to the NC-led Government. Nothing of this sort has happened. The NC has been going its own way with the Congress not doing anything to rein in its "arrogant" coalition partner or force it to adopt the 73rd and 74th Constitutional amendments.
The Congress leadership would do well to appreciate what Mufti Mohammad Sayeed very candidly said. It must stop making statements of helplessness. Instead, it should assert its position and authority and prove by its words and actions that it is an equal partner in the Government and not the B or C-team of the NC. |
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