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| Congress-NC row, a mere storm in a tea cup | | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, Jan 30: One set of the opposition in Jammu and Kashmir call the latest conflict between the National Conference and the Congress over the setting up of new administrative units in the State a storm in a tea cup. The other set describes the row between the two alliance partners as nothing more than much ado about nothing.
Infact it was the National Conference leadership and the Congress high command keen to retain the alliance .Majority of senior leaders of the State unit of the Congress were not inclined to succumb to the pressure being mounted by Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, who had threatened to quit if the Congress raised hurdles in his plan of setting up new administrative units.
The Congress high command has been, right from 2010 keen to retain the alliance with the NC lest any change in the political arrangement in the state should lift the lid from the Pandora's box. The Congress high command has been opposed to altering the five year old political arrangement in Jammu and Kashmir and that too when the Lok Sabha election was round the corner and the Assembly election was due during the current year.
Though the Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, Dr Farooq Abdullah, has denied reports indicating that he had sought Congress chief, Sonia Gandhi's intervention in setting the alliance house in order, inside reports said that Dr Abdullah has met senior Congress functionaries for their support to his (Dr Farooq's) efforts for ensuring survival of the alliance.
If the NC leadership has been quite eager in sustaining the five year old alliance with the Congress it has been the result of its deep interest in preventing its main political foe, the PDP, from regaining power. Well whether the Congress had the inclination to form the Government with the support of the PDP in Jammu and Kashmir or not if Omar Abdullah executed his threat and resigned, the Congress had the option to do so. Even if the Congress had opted for early Assembly election after Omar's resignation the chances for NC-Congress pre-poll or post-poll alliance would have become bleak. Instead, the chances for the PDP-Congress alliance, whether during the Assembly election or after the poll, would become quite bright. And the NC leadership has not never been prepared for such a development.
The Congress high command failed to understand the gravity of the issue when the leaders of the State unit of the Congress have been quite vocal NC leadership's insistence on setting up new administrative units which were more Kashmir valley centric giving a raw deal to the Jammu and Ladakh regions. If the Congress, in its final report to the Cabinet, does not rectify this lacuna it could be exploited by the opposition, especially the BJP and the Panthers Party during the ensuing elections.
The NC leadership's focus on setting up new administrative units in Jammu and Kashmir State, which is faced with severe and recurring financial stringency, is part of its election strategy. The NC leadership is aware of two developments. One, is its fear of facing the anti-incumbency factor during the election. Secondly, reports indicate that the PDP has made major gains as far as consolidation and expansion of its vote bank in the Kashmir valley and in some parts of the Jammu region is concerned. The NC leadership believes that it can fight anti-incumbency and PDP's challenge through the new administrative units.
And surprisingly one of a senior NC leader, Sheikh Ghulam Rasool, who has been the Chief Secretary, has written a letter to the chairman Cabinet Sub-Committee, Tara Chand, cautioning him against the plan of setting up new administrative units which may impose additional financial burden of Rs. 800 crores on the State exchequer. Ghulam Rasool has made it clear that since the financial health has been quite weak in Jammu and Kashmir State it would have to bank on the centre for additional financial help for maintaining new administrative units.
Unfortunately the Congress high command failed to read the financial implications of the plan of Chief Minister to set up new administrative units. It is now a story of Congress buckling under phoney scare created by Omar Abdullah's threat to resign. In this day long tussle Omar has emerged a gainer and the Congress a loser. |
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