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| Congress committing 'political suicide' in J&K | | Beef controversy | | ET Report
Jammu, Sept 17: Political parties, which fail to identify themselves with people's sentiments, ultimately become irrelevant. It is expected that political parties, particularly those not in power, should make optimum use of the space vacated by the parties in power by their acts of omission and commission to fill the vacuum by addressing the concerns of the people.
Jammu and Kashmir is one state where the PDP-BJP ruling coalition has created an environment that suits the parties like Congress and Panthers Party. Significantly, the Panthers Party has found in the failure of the BJP in catering to the needs of its own constituency in Jammu Province to bounce back by organizing activities in different parts of the Province as well as outside at New Delhi. Ever since it suffered a defeat in the Assembly elections due to the Modi wave that had swept the entire Jammu Province, the Panthers Party leadership has not missed a single opportunity to make common cause with the people of Jammu Province and retrieve the space it lost to the BJP. It may or may not win many seats in the next elections, but it has undoubtedly endeared the people of Jammu by highlighting all the issues the people hold very dear.
Ironically, the Congress, which suffered the worst ever defeat in the Assembly polls in Jammu Province, continues to take its people for a ride. It was an appropriate time for the Congress to expose the BJP and its political, economic and religious policies to strike a chord with the people of Jammu region, but it has, it appears, squandered the invaluable opportunity. Instead of batting for the causes the aggrieved people of Jammu Province, top Congress leaders have been further alienating them by speaking the language of separatists and communalists in the Kashmir valley. The recent statements of former PCC president Saif-Ud-Din-Soz, sitting PCC chief G A Mir as well as leader of Congress Legislative Party in Assembly Nawang Rigzin Jora have only added more fuel to the fire. By assuring full support to the National Conference and PDP that Congress will support all the moves aimed at lifting ban on Cow slaughter and beef eating, the Congress has obviously damaged its poll prospects in the Jammu Province. This region has all along remained its strong support base and its controversial stand has puzzled the political pundits, who say "Congress is wilfully committing a political suicide in the region that gave it status and power".
One can understand why Mir and Soz took the stand they took on the High Court order on Cow slaughtering and beef eating, but what is not quite understandable is the stoic silence of senior Congress leaders from Jammu Province. Even far more puzzling has been the role of chief spokesperson of Congress, Ravinder Sharma, who frequently issue statements on petty issues but he goes into hibernation for days when it comes to the substantive issues facing people of Jammu region to which, he claims, he belongs.
Why are Congress leaders like Tara Chand, Sham Lal Sharma, Raman Bhalla, Madan Lal Sharma, Manohar Lal, Jugal Kishore Sharma, Mula Ram, Balwan Singh, Dharmpal, Thakur Hari Singh, Vikram Malhotra and Yogesh Sawhney maintaining silence on the beef row? People are asking. They are also asking why are they shying away from taking a definite stand on the issue that has created unrest not only in Jammu Province but across the country. People were expecting that persons like Sham Lal Sharma would take a bold stand on the issue like he took at Bani four years ago on the issue of Jammu's empowerment while a top minister in the then government. His statement that he stood for the division of the state and status of statehood for Jammu Province had filled the hearts of the people of Jammu region with hope, but it now appears that he didn't mean what he had said.
Still, however, there are people in the Province who believe that the political compulsion would finally awaken them from their deep slumber in their own interest and they would appreciate the sentiments of those because of whom they enjoyed power for years. It is intriguing that the same BJP which has let down people of Jammu Province has asked the Congress to make its stand public on the beef row. |
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