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Dissension in J&K Congress
By Shujaat Bukhari
The expansion of the two-month-old coalition Government, headed by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, accommodated a good chunk of Independents and most aspirants in the Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP). However, the Congress, the biggest party in the coalition, is facing dissent from some "eligible" aspirants.
It was expected that the lone woman MLA from the Congress, Suman Bhagat, who was elected from R.S. Pura, would be given a Cabinet berth as she is a senior member of the party and former Cabinet Minister. Her supporters staged protests for many days after she was overlooked. Though she was offered the post of Chairperson of the Social Welfare Advisory Board with Cabinet status, she refused to take up the assignment.
Three supporters of another MLA, Raman Bhalla, tried to immolate themselves and hundreds of his followers took to the streets after he was also left out. But both Ms. Bhagat and Mr. Bhalla have maintained that they were "true soldiers of the party".
But Mr. Saroori went a step further and told a local newspaper that he was faced with no option but to resign his seat if he was not taken in the Cabinet. "As my constituency is in a remote area in the Jammu region, my inclusion as a Minister in the Council of Ministers will help in addressing the problem of the people living in the area."
He quotes the margin of his victory in the Assembly election (over 18,800 votes) to support his candidature for a Cabinet post.
He said the party would face "major reverses" in the next Lok Sabha elections if the situation was not rectified.
The Congress MLA from Amira Kadal, Mohammad Shafi Bhat, is also sore over his exclusion from the Cabinet. He said, "Srinagar city is not represented in the Ministry."
No senior Congress leader was available to comment on the developments and repeated attempts to contact the PCC president, Ghulam Nabi Azad, failed.
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