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| Does Farooq really mean what he said? | | NC-Congress Ties | | Rustam
JAMMU, July 16: Former Finance Minister and the UPA's Presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee was in Srinagar yesterday. He visited the State's summer capital to meet with law-makers and seek their support, which he, as expected, got. Those who are entitled to vote in the Presidential election include Members of Parliament, Members of Legislative Assembly and Members of Legislative Council. There was no doubt whatever that the ruling coalition, the main opposition PDP and other Kashmir-based legislators, barring the Panthers Party MLC, would extend full support to the candidature of Mukherjee. Mukherjee knew it but still he thought it necessary to visit Srinagar and personally meet with law-makers. It was a right move. The Presidential election will take place on July 19. The other candidate is P Sangma, former Speaker of Lok Sabha. He enjoys the support of BJP, AIADMK, BJD, Akali Dal and a few other political groups.
Anyway, the meeting between Mukherjee and the non-BJP and non-Panthers Party took place at Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC). Patron of NC and Union Minister for Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah was also there in the meeting. He seemingly used the opportunity to bridge the gulf between the NC and the Congress and urged leaders of both parties not to wash dirty line in public. He said the unity between the two is imperative and that he had also asked his brother Mustafa Kamaal not to speak against the Congress party. "The NC and Congress enjoyed emotional relationships. Leaders of both the parties need to stop speaking against each other and exercise restraint. I have asked my brother to exercise restraint and not make anti-Congress statements," he said.
It was an extraordinary intervention in the sense that the meeting was organized specifically for reassuring Mukherjee that the Kashmir-based, Ladakh-based and Jammu-based law-makers belonging to the non-BJP and non-Panthers Party will vote en-block in his favour. His intervention or his advice to the NC and the Congress leaders not to speak against each other did suggest that things have gone out of control and that the coalition might fall apart if brakes are not applied.
However, it is not certain if Farooq Abdullah really meant what he said. After all, it was none other than Farooq Abdullah who had last year removed his brother from the positions of additional general secretary and chief spokesperson on the ground that the latter had unleashed a vilification campaign against local Congress leadership, Congress high command and New Delhi. Even after his removal, Kamaal did not keep his mouth shut. He continued to attack the Congress. Farooq Abdullah was fully aware of his brother's antics, including his adverse comments on his nephew and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. Despite the fact that Kamaal had refused to reform himself or change his attitude towards the Congress, Farooq Abdullah reappointed him as additional general secretary some three months ago. Ever since then, he has been attacking local Congress leadership and New Delhi from right and left. Besides, he has been demanding sovereign status for Jammu & Kashmir. So much so, he has been ridiculing the Congress spokesperson Ravinder Sharma and accusing PHE Minister and senior Congress leader Taj Mohi-ud-Din of winning the Assembly election with the help of Army, with the latter threatening to sue him. Kamaal took on Taj when the latter told a local news agency that the "issue of autonomy is a closed chapter" and that "no review of Central laws extended to the State after 1953 is needed". Neither the Chief Minister nor Farooq Abdullah reined in Kamaal. Why? Why Farooq Abdullah took three months to advise restraint?
The point is that Farooq Abdullah was not really committed to what he did to his brother. What he did that time was nothing but a desperate and canny move on his part to save the situation and secure the position of his son. His latest intervention could also be interpreted as a shrewd move on his part to strengthen the NC at the cost of the Congress party. It is not a secret that the NC has been doing its best to erode the support-base of the Congress even in Jammu Pradesh by devising and implementing policies which the people of this Pradesh not only dislike but also hate and despise from the core of their heart.
Those who believe that Kamaal would change his attitude towards the Congress, the Congress high command and New Delhi are living in a world of the past. Kamaal will continue to pour venom on them, as it suits the NC. Wait for a day or two and you will see Kamaal upping the ante and attacking Congress leaders like JKPCC chief Saif-ud-Din Soz and Taj Mohi-ud-Din with renewed zeal. It would be no exaggeration to say that the three Abdullahs are working in unison to retain control over the Kashmir constituency, an exercise which is unlikely to help them. The PDP will surely make the NC to bite dust in Kashmir and the BJP, which is, of course, in disarray at the moment, and the Jammu Kashmir Democratic Front are sure to mar the poll prospectus of the Congress in Jammu Pradesh, especially in the 28 Hindu-majority constituencies. The Congress would do well to call the NC's bluff and conduct itself in a fashion that helps it win over the estranged Jammu constituency. |
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