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| Azad blames own party men for disintegration of Congress | | No to pre-poll alliance | | Rustam
JAMMU, July 20: As expected, the July 19 Congress convention at Jammu witnessed noisy scenes, with almost everyone openly condemning the Congress Ministers and accusing them of being corrupt, anti-party and anti-Jammu and opposing tooth nail the suggestion of any kind of pre-poll alliance with the National Conference. It was nothing but a convention of discontent and dissatisfaction. Everything happened in the presence of AICC leaders Ambika Soni, in-charge J&K Congress, Ghulam Nabi Azad, former Union Minister and PCC president, Prof Saif-ud-Din Soz. The convention was held to listen to the views of the party workers at the grassroots level, as also to ascertain what led to the Congress' debacle in the Lok Sabha election. The convention will be remembered for five major developments that unfolded during the convention. One was the unanimity among the party rank and file that there must not be pre-poll alliance with the NC. Pre-poll alliance with the NC would completely destroy the Congress in the state was the refrain of most of those who spoke on this issue. They were absolutely correct. Their view clicked and Soni, Azad and Soz today announced in press conference that the Congress would contest alone in the upcoming assembly elections and try to win 44+ seats to form the next government. Soni said that the party and party workers were unhappy with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. Azad and Soz also echoed similar views and declared that the party would form the next government in the state and do what it couldn't because it didn't have majority in the House. The decision of the Congress party to reject the idea of pre-poll alliance with the NC evoked a very strong reaction from Omar Abdullah and his political secretary Tanvir Sadiq. Abdullah tweeted that he had already told Sonia Gandhi 10 days ago that the NC had decided to go alone and Sadiq said that the party was not surprised by the Congress' decision. It is important to note that Abdullah was very much for pre-poll alliance with the Congress.
Two, Azad, who looked quite angry, said that the Congressmen from top to bottom left no stone unturned during the past six years to disintegrate the Congress in Jammu & Kashmir. "For the last six years some people from top to bottom have disintegrated the Congress in Jammu & Kashmir. It is high time for us to save the Congress," the angry Azad was quoted as saying. The third development was the "polite" refusal of Azad to respond when asked if the Congress sacrificed its agenda for the sake of the National Conference in Jammu & Kashmir. It was a pertinent and important question in the sense that the Congress did nothing whatever during the past more than 11 years to fulfill any of the commitments it made in its election manifestoes to win over the neglected people of Jammu province, but Azad thought it politically improper to respond. It is obvious that Azad had no answer to this straight question. Significantly, Azad and Soz adopted the same attitude towards the Abdullah-led government even today. They neither criticized it nor hailed it. Four, almost all those who spoke during the convention attacked all the Congress Ministers using very harsh words and suggested that none of the sitting Ministers be given the mandate. And the fifth development was that the manner in which supporters and opponents of Azad and Soz behaved. They made it clear that the possibility of unity between the two factions was too remote. All in all, the message from the convention was not inspiring for the party workers. Of course, the party leadership today did try to infuse vigour in the party ranks by saying no to pre-poll alliance. It is difficult to say that the decision of the Congress to go alone in the election would benefit it. It is difficult because the Congress has only decided to contest the Assembly elections alone, but not come out of the government. It is clear that anti-incumbency would be an important factor in the election. |
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