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COVER FEB 28th 2009

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Cong - Sorry Secularism

BY RAMNEEK MANHAS

Gone are the days when Congress behaved like a secular party. Not much ago the secular values of Congress were nurtured by fielding Muslim candidates from Hindu dominated constituencies and vice versa.

For decades together, Congress has been getting votes and ruling the country in the name of secularism, socialism and democracy. But the myth about the sacred slogans is gradually fading away. That Congress has encouraged capitalism and created new capitalists in place of older ones is no more a secret now. Also how family rules violating the spirit of democracy have been foisted in the country and its various states by Congress has become an open secret, too. And now has come the time for the hollowness of this century old party’s slogan of secularism to get exposed.

In Jammu and Kashmir the ratio of population is 60:40 between Muslims and Hindus. Whereas Kashmir valley has negligible number of Hindus left there after eruption of militancy, the Jammu region having predominantly Hindu population had so far provided a strong bastion for Congress. Even in the recently concluded Assembly polls when religious sentiments on the issue of Amarnath land row had overtaken the traditional secular ethos, Congress bagged 12 valuable seats from this region as against 3 in the Kashmir Valley. In light of this fact there was a dire need of encouraging the secular tradition of people of Jammu which could easily be done by allotting at least one out of four Rajya Sabha seats to a Hindu candidate by Congress that claims to be the torch bearer of secularism. But it was not done thus leaving the space open for BJP to grow its influence here which in itself amounts to encouraging communal forces in an indirect manner.

In view of its secular traditions Congress should have fielded some Hindu leader from Jammu as its Rajya Sabha candidate. Even Pandit Mangat Ram Sharma who had lost the Assembly election could be a suitable choice. This could have saved the party from being called as a communal party besides saving the eroding base in its traditional strong hold where Congress cadres are feeling neglected and demoralized much to the delight of BJP that is bound to emerge stronger at the cost of Congress. If Azad’s services were so necessary at national level he could have been fielded in Lok Sabha elections from Udhampur constituency where his success was a foregone conclusion. Rather he is the only candidate who could win on Congress ticket from that constituency. This would have not only been in accordance with secular values of the party, but a wise step also that could have ensured victory of at least one Congress candidate from Jammu region.

Gone are the days when Congress behaved like a secular party. Not much ago the secular values of Congress were nurtured by fielding Muslim candidates from Hindu dominated constituencies and vice versa- Ghulam Rasool Azad’s candidature from Hindu dominated Jammu and Dina Nath Nadim’s candidature from Muslim majority constituency of Kashmir as party’s MLCs from teachers quota being a glaring example.

Lucky Lal

With former Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad having been nominated to Rajya Sabha, opportunity has once again started peeping in to the otherwise closed window of hope for Ch. Lal Singh the incumbent MP from Kathua-Udhampur-Doda Parliamentary constituency in Jammu region. That he would not be Congress candidate in the coming Lok Sabha election had become clear when he was given party ticket to contest the Assembly election from his home constituency Kathua. There were reports that Congress would field Mr. Azad from this constituency with party high command believing that he could win hands down, but now when he has been made a Rajya Sabha will not be the Congress candidate.

In the given situation therefore if Ch. Lal Singh hopes to be repeated as Congress candidate he may not be dreaming in the day. His losing the Assembly election could be his weak point, but who did not lose is a question he can legitimately ask his adversaries. The fact of the matter is that it is not he alone almost all the senior party leaders from Jammu region have lost the Assembly elections and this all happened because people of Jammu wanted to teach Congress a lesson for hurting their sentiments on the issue of Amarnath land row. Lal Singh, therefore can consider himself lucky to have his field clear after Azad’s departure from the State politics, but will he be lucky to get elected also is a questionable proposition particularly in light of the fact that Congress has provided yet another emotional issue to BJP in the shape of neglecting Hindus while distributing tickets for Rajya Sabha elections.

Filthy Fight

BY RAMNEEK MANHAS

Once described as game of scoundrels politics can now be well called as game of millionaire. People spend blindly in elections and then earn ten times more by becoming MLAs and MPs. If the MLAs or MPs become Ministers the profit becomes thousand times higher and it is because of this reason that politics and political parties have become an industry rather than the source of ideological inspiration.

The NC-Cong coalition government headed by Omar Abdullah in Jammu and Kashmir has begun its journey with ten Ministers. Though the same administration was successfully managed by just three advisors during past six months of Governor’s rule, there is a provision of inducting fifteen more Ministers in the government and like ek anar sau beemar the limited seats do not seem satisfying all the MLAs hence giving rise to an ugly fight between different MLAs to fetch the coveted post. Interestingly this fight is not between MLAs of rival parties it in fact is between MLAs of the same parties in some cases even between friends and relatives.

For instance, G.M Saroori has won the election for the second time from Inderwal constituency in Kishtwar District on Congress ticket. In his earlier stint he was made a Minister by Ghulam Nabi Azad. He was expecting to be made a Minister this time also, but former Minister and incumbent MLC, M.S Niaz is opposed to the idea because he is himself ambitious of becoming a Minister. Saroori’s men claim that Niaz was in Delhi to ensure that the former doesn’t find a ‘berth’. According to them Niaz has made it clear that he will block Saroori’s way even if he is to spend one crore of rupees fifty crores that according to them he had made when he was PDD Minister to acieve his objective. Aware of the fact that being an MLC the party high command may not make him a Minister, Niaz is now trying to obtain party ticket from Bhadarwah constituency, where bye-elections have been necessitated after Azad deciding to return to New Delhi via Rajya Sabha. Niaz perceives that once he becomes MLA his becoming a Minister would be a forgone possibility, but before that he will have to scuttle inclusion of his rivals including Saroori and Majeed Wani in the Ministry believing that once someone else becomes a Minister from the hilly district his dream of entering the Cabinet with limited seats could turn sour.

The task of getting party ticket is also not that easy for Mr. Niaz. Besides dozens of others, his own cousin and younger brother of GN Azad, Mustfa Batt is also in the race to get party mandate. Apart from his democratic right of becoming Azad’s successor, Mustfa has the tacit support of other local party MLAs for whom he is a lesser evil than Mr. Niaz.

During his recent visit of Jammu when Azad had come here in connection with filing of nomination papers for Rajya Sabha I had a chance to see him at his official residence situated in J&K Bank complex, Gandhi Nagar. I was surprised to see hundreds of people already present there seeking appointment. But soon the confusion became clear. People had not come here at their own they in fact were brought by different MLAs and MLCs to pressurize Mr. Azad to acknowledge their claim of being made Ministers. The number of those who wanted to become MLC was also not small either, but many others were there to stake their claim for party mandate from Bhadarwah. Similar rush was seen at State Guest House where the PCC Chief Professor Saif-ud-Din Soz was putting up. Not only the rush was same, the people were also same and their demands were same too.

The bull fight is on and who emerges victorious at the end of it this time will tell, but one thing that is sure to say is that this rat race within Congress cadres has put the Congress high command in a state of dilemma where-in deciding things could be a lost bargain. If they make Niaz a Minmister they will be stirring the hornet’s nest with more and more drones coming out to bite and if they don’t oblige him he might desert Congress and join PDP where he is said to have already established contacts. And if he is fielded from Bhadarwah as party candidate Azad’s own brothers may ensure his defeat with the help of other local MLAs including Saroori and Wani for whom Niaz’s victory could prove to be a political death knell!

BJP’s Blunders

BY ADEETI VERMA

Some quarters are floating the idea of fielding leaders of Shri Amarnath Yatra Sangharash Samitti on BJP ticket, but this could prove counter productive. Since SAYAS is a religious organization having support base outside BJP also, dragging it in to party politics would be suicidal for people of Jammu.

BJP that has registered record victory by winning all times high number of seats in the recently concluded Assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir has lost some seats by a narrow margin as well by committing some mistakes. For instance in Doda and Udhamour districts where BJP could win considerable number of seats failed to open its account because no leader of consequence reached there to campaign in favour of the party candidates. Those who came from New Delhi preferred to confine their activities within Jammu district alone leaving the field open for Congress in other districts. The party President Rajnath did spare a day from his busy schedule to canvass in the hilly districts, but the effort could not blunt the Congress campaign lead by Ghulam Nabi Azad who remained in the district for weeks together campaigning in all the six constituencies. Now when election results have been declared it has become clear that had BJP campaigned seriously the results could have been different in these districts.

In Jammu West though BJP won by a comfortable margin, observers believe that the margin could have been all time high had the incumbent Mayor of Jammu Municipal Corporation, Kavinder Gupta been fielded in place of Professor Chaman Lal. In view of his ailing health and ‘non-local’ image the voters of the constituency who wanted to defeat Congress preferred a young independent candidate; Surinder Singh Shinghari who bagged more than 22 thousand votes, which is incidentally the highest number of votes that any independent candidate has ever bagged. “Had BJP fielded Kavinder Gupta who is young, energetic and local leader the votes that Shinghari polled would have gone to BJP thus increasing its tally to 50 thousand votes opine political analysts.

They also believe that had Professor Chaman Lal been fielded from his home constituency, Gandhi Nagar in place of Dr. Nirmal Singh, BJP would have won that seat as well.

The biggest blunder that BJP did in these elections was that it fielded all its senior leaders leaving none to head the election campaign. Had leaders like Nirmal Singh, D.K Kotwal and Professor Chaman Lal been kept free even those seats including Kishtwar, Vijaypur and Samba that BJP lost by narrow margin could have been won. Not only this, these leaders could prove to be effective candidates in the up coming Lok Sabha elections. Now, though Dr. Nirmal Singh can be fielded on one of the two Lok Sabha seats of Jammu region it would be a hard task for the party to find a strong candidate for the second seat.

Some quarters are floating the idea of fielding leaders of Shri Amarnath Yatra Sangharash Samitti on BJP ticket, but this could prove counter productive. Since SAYAS is a religious organization having support base outside BJP also, dragging it in to party politics might prove detrimental for the unity of Jammu. The agitation launched by the Samitti was supported by not only BJP, but all the nationalist people belonging to all walks of life. If its leaders are fielded by a particular party they may not get the winning support. Besides this there is every apprehension that some party aspirants may sabotage the poll campaign to ensure defeat of the Samitti candidates. However the biggest loss could be this that people may not support any agitation in future believing that for long 62 day Jammu’s sentiments were exploited merely to create few leaders for BJP. The BJP high command should consider the pros and cones of fielding SAYAS leaders in the up coming Lok Sabha poll before taking any decision on this account in the broader public interest.

BJP, hopefully will not forget that winning people’s faith is more important than winning a couple of seats in prevailing political context.

Luckless leaders

BY RAMNEEK MANHAS

Many people join politics and achieve success, but the number of those who never become MLAs or Ministers is far bigger and if the successful politicians claim that their hard work is behind their success I honestly say I am not convinced. To me success like elsewhere needs something more than hard work and I have a reason to think so.

In 1987, the sitting Congress MLA from Bhadarwh, Hari Lal Hiteshi was denied party ticket on the premise that his performance in the earlier stint was not impressive. Consequently, the party ticket was allotted to one Ram Sarn. But due to death of BJP candidate, Om Prakash on the day of scrutiny the elections were countermanded. The BJP candidate who had come to Bhadarwah in connection with scrutiny of nomination papers while returning home in the evening fell from a foot bridge and was drowned in the flooded nallah. In the meantime, whereas Mr. Hiteshi worked day and night for party candidate in adjacent Indarwal constituency, Ram Sarn decided to remain aloof from the election campaign. And when the party candidate from Indarwal won the elections he recommended Hiteshi’s name for party candidature for Bhadarwah in place of Ram Saran. This time not only Mr. Hiteshi won, he also became Another man with whom luck seems playing hide and seek is MLA Kalakote, K. Rashpal Singh. In 1996 he lost the election when came in power, but in 2002 when he won his party despite being single largest party decided to remain in Opposition. And now in 2008 when Mr. Singh has once again won, his lone Rajput rival in NC, Surjeet Singh Slathia also succeeded in winning from Vijaypur thereby blocking way of K. Rashpal Singh. Another blockade in his way is RS Sharma who being a lone Brehmin MLA in NC may be preferred by party high command thus making things difficult for another Rajput MLA’s inclusion in the Ministry from the same party.

Logically speaking the claim of K.Rashpal Singh is quite justified. Not only that he is a tested party horse his popularity among all communities including Hindus, Muslims, Paharis and Gujjars that constitute his electorate is a strong plus point for NC not only in Kalakote but in other constituencies of the twin districts of Rajouri and Poonch also that have almost similar religious and social conditions. NC high command is supposed to recognize the services, secular credentials and vide acceptance of this Pahari Rajput and include him in the coalition Ministry, which would be justice with not only him, but the entire hilly region where people of all religions have the tradition of living together like members of one family.

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