COMMENT

Fotedar’s seventh symphony of ‘rotational Chief Minister’

PDP may not benefit from jingoism of its Delhi-based lobbyists

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Jun 14: In order to neutralize the criticism of being an “undependable partner”, Congress made it unambiguously clear in Parliamentary elections of April 2004 that it would not break any alliance or seat adjustment with its allies “in any circumstances”. Thereafter, it did not repeat its characteristic mistake, even in most compelling and tying conditions created by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s PDP in J&K, DMK in Tamil Nadu and many others. In J&K, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad was forced to swallow the bitter pills till PDP unilaterally withdrew support and broke the coalition in June 2008.

On scores of occasions from 2004 to 2008, it appeared that the country’s principal political party under Sonia Gandhi’s leadership was more keen to uphold its image of being a “dependable partner” than anything else. In fact, the UPA coalition was disastrous in many fields and never before had the country suffered the ignominy of being a ‘Banana Republic’.

Notwithstanding an overwhelming public impression that Mufti would continue as head of the coalition beyond his fixed term of three years, Congress sent Azad all the way from Delhi to take over as Chief Minister in November 2005. Even the most mature in PDP did rest assured that Sonia would snub the delegation of Congress party’s MLAs the way Indira Gandhi did once to sort out a rift between Ghulam Mohammad Sadiq and Syed Mir Qasim.

Equating Sonia with Indira was potentially disastrous. Dictatorship, arrogance, belligerence and breaking partnerships served as marks of identification for Indira’ rule till she breathed her last. Sonia has come in total contrast. Nevertheless, she had put her foot down to enforce all pre-poll seat sharing and post-poll coalition arrangements with the UPA constituents without regard to anybody’s sentiments. Mufti stayed as CM for only three years because there was an agreement in November 2002. Azad was not permitted to part with PDP because the coalition had been indelibly created for six years.

Notwithstanding his strong clout in Delhi, Omar Abdullah may not be allowed to remain J&K’s Chief Minister a day beyond January 5, 2012, in absence of an agreement over his full term in November 2008. Dr Karan Singh, who played key role in weakening his party’s pro-PDP lobby and getting Omar installed as the head of the coalition in J&K, made it clear to one and all after the swearing-in ceremony at Zorawar Singh Hall of the University of Jammu that everything had been settled. He made it clear to bigwigs of different parties that Omar would be the CM for full six years but key portfolios would be retained by the Ministers of Congress party.

More jubilant over PDP’s exit than NC’s entry, Azad too left nothing to speculation. He indicated on several occasions that Omar would continue as CM for full six years. On the other hand, Azad’s bete noire, Prof Saif-ud-din Soz, has been promoting the idea of having a “rotational Chief Minister”---NC’s for 3 years and Congress’ for 3 years. Since a non-Kashmiri, non-Muslim has never become the head of the government in J&K, Soz can not be naive to understand that Congress would have nobody other than him to induct as CM in the event of the change of guard within the ruling coalition.

Remarkably, BJP stalwart Ram Jethmalani and now senior Congress functionary, Makhan Lal Fotedar, have lately surfaced in sync with Soz. One does still expect a similar statement from men like Pranab Mukherjee. Most of the people in this pro-PDP lobby were proactively at work against Omar’s “Government of serious governance deficits” this season last year. They included mediapersons, academics, columnists and businesspersons.

Failing to get the desired ambience from Valley----June half way through and still no khoon ka badla---Jethmalani’s and Fotedars have turned politically bankrupt. Be that Jethmalani’s dig of “Nazi Regime” or Fotedar’s expression of school kid politician, nobody in Valley seems to be interested in politics, upheaval, Egyptian-type revolution, Tamil Nadu-type changeover, Intifada-type resistance.

By visiting friends in PDP and appreciating Mufti’s rule as the best one, frequent flyers like Jethmalani and Fotedar have only exposed themselves and adopted a position with which they can seldom help the Muftis. Fotedar’s public criticism of Omar Abdullah’s contention of “conditional accession” would only help the wrong player in Valley. Many in Srinagar say Omar had been surviving because of separatist radicals like Syed Ali Shah Geelani. Jethmalani and now Fotedar have come only as a bonus. Omar has to be indebted to them all for simply overshadowing the factors of his loose governance and flawed delivery systems.

END