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Stalemate
in transfer of power in Kashmir
by Maya Singh
New
Delhi: The stalemate over whether a Congress party chief
minister will assume charge of the government in Jammu and
Kashmir on November 2 continues. Neither incumbent Jammu and
Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed nor Congress
party President Sonia Gandhi were willing to comment on their
deliberations of the past two days, which reportedly focused
on the change of guard in the northern state. Sayeed, who
called on Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Monday, was
very deliberate in playing the transfer of power issue down,
saying that he had only discussed earthquake relief and rehabilitation
issues. Sources, however, said that he had apprised the Prime
Minister of his views on transfer of power in the State, as
also on the relief and rehabilitation measures being undertaken
by his government in Uri and Tangdhar, the areas worst affected
by the October 8 earthquake. He is also said to have thanked
the Central Government for the help and aid extended to the
Government of Jammu and Kashmir so far, but sought assistance
for the setting up of some permanent structures before winter
settles in.
Congress
President Sonia Gandhi spent most of Monday deliberating with
party leaders, including the Prime Minister, Defence Minister
Pranab Mukherjee, Congress legislators Karan Singh, Saif-ud-din
Soz and M L Fotedar about the stance the party should take
on the transfer of power issue. Union Urban Development Minister
Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is being projected as the party's chief
ministerial candidate in the state, was also present. On Sunday,
Gandhi had met Sayeed and his daughter and People's Democratic
Party (PDP) Chief Mehbooba Mufti over the matter. Under the
power sharing agreement between the allies, Sayeed's governing
PDP is to transfer control of the state government to the
Congress on November 2, after completing three years in office
to pave way for the coalition partner to head the alliance
government.
The
2002 assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir had resulted
in a hung assembly, and as a compromise formula to form a
government in the state the PDP, the Congress and the Panthers
Party forged an alliance. The bigger alliance partner the
Congress, with 20 seats in a 87 member Assembly decided to
install the then PDP president Mufti Muhammad Sayeed whose
party had a tally of 16 seats, as the chief minister for three
years. As per the power-sharing formula, it was also decided
that the Congress would assume the reins of the state for
the second half of the six-year term. Assembly polls in Jammu
and Kashmir are held every six years, as against other states
that go to polls every five years. Though Mufti's term comes
to an end on November 2, the situation arising out of the
October 8 earthquake has created a situation that could see
Mufti continuing as the state's chief minister for an interim
period of at least a year, if not for a full three year term,
given the Congress party's reluctance to assume charge at
this juncture. Sources privy to the PDP claim that Mufti is
not willing to remain in office as a stop gap arrangement,
but wants a full three year term if it is offered by the Congress.
Another option is for the Congress to tie up with the opposition
National Conference (NC) headed by Omar Abdullah, which is
still the majority party in Jammu and Kashmir with 28 members
in the State Assembly. In past, the two parties have been
alliance partners. They fought the 1987 polls together, but
the NC joined the NDA, following the 1999 general elections
in the BJP-led Vajpayee government in which the current party
chief Omar Abdullah was a member of the Union Council of Ministers.
It is only recently that the NC parted ways from the NDA.
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