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| NC weakening Congress even in Jammu | | |
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, June 16: On Monday, the Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office and AICC general secretary (in-charge of J&K Congress affairs), Prithvi Raj Chavan, along with JKPCC chief Prof Saif-ud-Din Soz, addressed a public rally at Poonch. Addressing the rally, he made two significant suggestions. One, everyone in the state Congress must “rise above the petty interests and work collectively for the unity of the party.” His suggestion was coupled with an unambiguous warning: “Indiscipline will not be tolerated and those promoting it will have to pay a heavy price”.
Obviously, he was referring to the conspiratorial activities being indulged in by Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and his handful of followers, who have been consistently trying their best to weaken JKPCC chief Prof Saif-ud-Din Soz. It was a timely warning. One can hope that Chavan would persuade the party high command to snub and rein in the detractors of the JKPCC chief. If the Congress is to survive and become strong in the state, the dissidents will have to be comprehensively defeated.
The other suggestion of Chavan was that “only strong Congress can make the coalition (NC-Congress coalition) more stronger.” He was right. Strong Congress can make the coalition strong. But the question is: Will the Congress become strong by playing the role of second-fiddle to the National Conference, whose ideology is not consistent with the Congress? The answer to this question cannot be in the affirmative. The truth is that the Congress is becoming unpopular day by day even in Jammu province, which is the strong support-base of the party.
Several factors have been working against the Congress in Jammu province. The most important one is that the Congress ministers and leaders are wittingly or unwittingly ignoring the highly controversial or even militant-friendly, activities being indulged in by the National Conference ministers and leaders.
For example, none of the Jammu-based Congress ministers and leaders has so far taken on those belonging to the National Conference who are abusing the Indian Army and paramilitary forces and airing views, which could be legitimately described as patently militant and Pakistan-friendly. The indifferent attitude of the Jammu-based Congress ministers and leaders has created an impression in Jammu that the Congress and the National Conference are working in unison, thus making the people of the province to hold themselves aloof from the Congress.
The people of Jammu province are vehemently opposed to the ideology of the National Conference. They are for India and the Indian Constitution, as also for a dispensation that treats Jammu province at par with Kashmir and ends discriminatory policies against them. It is the complaint of the people of Jammu that the coalition government is “anti-Jammu” and “pro-Kashmir” and that the Jammu-based Congress ministers and leaders have not been able to persuade the National Conference, which is leading the government, to hand down an impartial administration to Jammu. So much so that the people of Jammu province are accusing certain Congress ministers of please what they call “their Kashmiri masters”.
The other factor that has been working against the Congress is the decision of the party high command to allow the National Conference to rule the state for a full term of six years. This arrangement has adversely impacted the prospects of the Congress, particularly in Jammu province. The Congress has little or no say in Kashmir province. The immediate fall-out of the power-sharing arrangement is that the bulk of bureaucracy has been siding with the National Conference ever since January 5, 2009, when the National Conference-Congress coalition took over the state government. Most of the bureaucrats are siding with the National Conference ministers because they consider their allegiance to them as beneficial. By keeping the National Conference ministers in good humour, they can promote their personal interests and capture lucrative positions. That’s their view. Why should they care for the Congress ministers, who cannot harm them and their interests? Bureaucrats are bureaucrats and they always conduct themselves in a fashion that suits them.
An impression has gained ground in Jammu that it is the National Conference, and not the Congress, which is the real master. These and several other factors, including corruption at all levels, have all served to weaken the Congress in Jammu province.
If Chavan and others in the AICC really wish that Congress should emerge as a force to reckon with in Jammu province, they have no other option but to make a categorical statement as early as possible that the Congress shall take over the government from the National Conference on January 5, 2012. Any failure on their part to do so would be only to ensure the demise of the Congress party in Jammu province, which the Indian nation cannot afford. The Congress has to become a number one party in the state and it can become number one provided the Congress high command is willing to recognize the fact that the existing power-sharing formula is lop-sided, irrational and anti-Jammu.
Even otherwise, this formula is proving very costly for the state because the National Conference is repeatedly bungling the result of which has been anarchy and lawlessness across the state. The people of Jammu province are holding the Congress equally responsible for the prevailing state of affairs.
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