NC and Congress have had a bumpy coalition, where speaking against each other is a routine affair. The frequent infighting however, is a part of the power struggle within the ruling coalition. A Kashmir Life report.
Partners in J&K’s ruling coalition have remained in a state of cold war ever since they took over the reins of power. Whenever, the spats become frequent, and public, it starts consuming newsprint. That is exactly what is happening these days.
It all resumed with Dr Mustafa Kamal’s – chief minister’s uncle and son of Sheikh Abdullah – speech to the party workers, wherein he accused New Delhi of betraying Kashmir by making promises and not keeping them. By promises he meant the autonomy that was rolled back gradually after Sheikh Abdullah was arrested as the ‘prime minister’ of J&K in 1953.
“For them (Centre), autonomy is like a bone that has got stuck in their throat,” Dr Kamal told the party gathering in the fortified Nawa-e-Subh complex where the party moved its headquarters from the historic Mujahid Manzil with the onset of militancy. “There were five Working Groups that gave their recommendations but not a single one was implemented,” he added.
Over the years this has remained National Conference’s most favourite line for its Delhi bashing. But this time Congress reacted quite unexpectedly. Accusing Dr Kamal of trying to disrupt the smooth functioning of the coalition, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Monga suggested to Kamal to “understand that you are enjoying power in J&K because of Congress.” The party said that NC president Dr Farooq Abdullah was inducted into the union cabinet because of this support.
But Dr Kamal says he stands for every single word he uttered. He believes the Congress is enjoying power because of NC. His logic is that Congress has just a few seats in Kashmir and that it was born in Kashmir almost thirty years after NC. He even was quoted saying that if Congress was uncomfortable with the NC, “let them part ways”.
Ever since the coalition took over, Dr Kamal – representing Hazratbal assembly constituency apparently lacks any space in the government or the party – has been trying to be NC’s conscience-keeper. He has been invoking history more often than others to tell the party men that neither Congress is supportive of them nor is Delhi. He has remained as the main source of attacks on Congress since the incumbent coalition took over.
But the assertions at this time are being attributed to resort to a bit of Delhi bashing to help party retain its foothold in Kashmir. After the summer agitation that devoured 112 people in five months, NC has grown unpopular in Kashmir.
Dr Kamal hogged the limelight in July as well when he accused successive regimes in Delhi of mistaking NC’s sub-regional aspirations as a “threat to nationalism”. “British Saamraaj went back in 1947 and things were taken over by Brahman Saamraaj in the name of democracy,” he told a local cable network. He said “Punjabi Muslims” (read Pakistan) and “Hindu Dogras” (read Jammu and Delhi) are in league to weaken the NC because they were never comfortable with his father. Dr Kamal also remarked that the rise of militancy was targeted against NC.
Then he turned towards the Congress saying the party can ditch NC anytime leaving them in lurch. “They (Congress) have always acted as cheats. They played tricks with Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah and could do the same in future as well,” Kamal said in an interview insisting the coalition with the Congress was “a compulsion”.
At the same time, however, he said, his nephew is not heading “a daily wage government” because he has full support of New Delhi.
Finally it was the turn of Omar who was attacked by Kamal for his comments suggesting the leadership of the party will go to somebody outside the Abdullah dynasty. It triggered a TV storm for a few hours and finally the working committee met and Dr Farooq Abdullah took over as the president.
Regardless of Kamal statements, NC and Congress were never comfortably aligned for the last two years. The first battle was over the crucial ministerial berths. The battle that was fought from the drawing rooms in Srinagar and Delhi led to Congress taking almost all the major portfolios.
Soon after a controversy erupted when former chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad openly castigated the government. This led Omar to seek intervention from Congress high command that literally banned Azad from visiting J&K for some time. Though he stayed off but Azad’s men continued to add to Omar’s problems within and outside the cabinet. It reached a stage where even administrative reshuffle became a major issue. Verbal duels were reported in cabinet meetings.
Congress high command helped Omar in disciplining ‘restive’ members of the cabinet and suppressing the pro-Azad lobby in the state Congress. As the summer unrest overtook all other problems that the government was facing, things seem to be resuming a routine now. Congress ministers who are part of the decisions-making in the cabinet, come out and openly oppose it, publicly.
The so called surrender and rehabilitation policy for the youth trapped in Pakistan administered Kashmir is the latest instance. The policy drafted by security agencies and vetted by the MHA was approved by the cabinet. Within minutes of BJP terming it ‘anti-national’, the Congress tuned to a new frequency. Now it says they had no prior information of the policy as it was not discussed at the coalition coordination level. Finally the controversy settled when Congress state president Prof Saif ud Din Soz supported the policy in his speech in R S Pura last week.
However, chief minister Omar Abdullah personally contributed to the “crisis” by skipping the meeting of the coalition coordination committee. Slated to meet in Jammu last Sunday, the meeting was tasked to evolve the modalities for the forthcoming Panchayat polls. Most of the parties across the state want these polls – likely to be held early 2012, on non-party basis.
“It was postponed and shall take place within next two to three days,” state Congress president Prof Saif ud Din Soz told reporters. “It was postponed because some of the members were too preoccupied (busy).” But that meeting never took place and is unlikely to happen in coming days as well.
This is because Omar has decided against becoming part of the coordination committee. Even Farooq Abdullah would not attend this meeting. NC sees revival of the coordination committee as a new power super-structure (outside cabinet) where Congress will dictate its terms and become a hurdle between him and the Congress high command.
Omar skipped the meet after he had a 30-minute long meeting with Congress president Ms Sonia Gandhi. “It was a scheduled meeting in which Omar briefed her about the achievements on various fronts including the rehabilitation of Leh,” an informed source said. Official spokesman in Srinagar said, Ms Gandhi assured him of all support. NC sources said he had objected to such exercises (like coordination committee) and had complained about some Congressmen trying to create problems.
Given the political realities that they can never be in power without the Congress, J&K’s regional parties (Peoples’ Democratic Party and NC) have evolved a time tested way out for handling the local Congress.
They remain in direct contact with Congress high command and seek directions from 10-Janpath only. NC leaders are privately saying that “it is NC’s coalition with 10-Janpath” and not with the Congress party in Jammu or Srinagar. Neither of the two parties have taken the local Congressmen seriously, ever.
Congressmen accept the reality in private. They say they are ditched by the party so they can not accuse Omar Abdullah for whatever he is doing. However, they miss Prithviraj Chavan, the Congress general secretary who was in charge of J&K besides being a MoS in PMO. He was shifted to Mumbai as chief minister of Maharashtra after the defence housing colony scam led to resignation of his predecessor. “He (Chavan) had understood the problems we face in the state and his shifting has been a loss to the party in J&K,” one Congress leader said, adding “The party is trying to give us a new man and the process of identifying him has started.”
Congress high command has stakes in Omar. He got the hot seat in J&K because of his friend Rahul Gandhi. He even came to his rescue at the peak of crisis that stopped the entire Congress from talking against Omar Abdullah even when killing of civilians was a daily affair in Kashmir.
While saving the interests of 10-Janpath, Ms Sonia Gandhi has given almost everything to Congress in J&K. All the major berths in the cabinet are with Congress – health, education, irrigation, revenue, tourism, industry, urban development, PHE, horticulture. It has never permitted Omar Abdullah to go against any of the Congress ministers on the issue of corruption though he has dossiers ready.
In one case even a minister wrote officially to State Vigilance Organization in support of his officer who is facing serious corruption charges. Congress president is taking every word of her party president in state seriously. NC wanted to set up a university in Sumbal but Prof Said ud Din Soz had reservations. The bill that was passed within a day had to go to the Select Committee.
Congress is enjoying the power in the state. And policy makers in Delhi – within and outside 10-Janpath, are averse to the idea of giving ‘absolute power’ to any national party in Kashmir. It will always remain either with NC or with PDP!
