KL Desk
Srinagar
Prominent Congress workers have pulled the rugs out of the Congress ministers in Rahul Gandhi’s presence in a meeting in SKICC on Friday, party sources revealed. This led the new leader of the party leaving with a promise that he will work more to understand how the Congress ministers are working in Omar Abdullah led government.
Sources said that around 150 Congressmen and women including ministers and all the office bearers were in the meeting that last around 45 minutes. After routine greetings and speeches, Rahul Gandhi has asked workers to brief him about who is not a good Congress minister. Sources said there was pin drop silence and after a pause Rahul asked who the best performing minister is?
This question triggered a response with a senior worker offering the name of a hyper-active minister, every close to the chief minister Omar Abdullah. Once he gave the name, it triggered an angry reaction and a dozen workers opposed the assessment. Sources said it was a free for all and almost every Congress minister was criticized by their own workers. The major point that everybody talked about was the Congress ministers were not hand-holding the party workers and instead feel comfortable in helping NC and other parties. Though, nobody talked about corruption.
This led Rahul to assert that he will have to find out himself how the Congress ministers of the Omar Abdullah led coalition are functioning and operating.
Sources said the incident could impact the cabinet reshuffle that is expected to take place after the assembly session is over. Congress has two berths already with the Chief Minister – one that of Ghulam Mohammad Saroori and the other of Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed. Besides, Congress will have another berth if Omar decided to exhaust the entire quota that law permits.
Right now, Congressmen are working overtime to ensure they get a chance to become a minster. Hopefuls include Saroori, who has been claiming that he stands absolved of the charges that led Omar to axe him. In fact Ghulam Ahmad Mir is also expecting to get a chance to work under Omar after a designated CBI Court exonerated him from the 2006 sleaze and minor exploitation case in Chandigarh. The case was shifted to Punjab for trial as the accused failed to get defence lawyers in Srinagar.
