Jammu, September 22
Faced with
criticism from within the party, the PCC President and Rural Development
Minister, Mr Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed, has taken a U-turn on his
controversial statement that rejected the report of the Wazir Commission
and has now said the Congress Party stands for the implementation of its
recommendations.
The somersault of Mr Sayeed came within a few hours
of his rejecting the report that had recommended the creation of three
new districts in the Jammu division.
The Deputy Chief Minister, Mr
Mangat Ram Sharma, who is a senior Congress leader, was among many other
ministers, who did not relish the statement of the newly nominated PCC
chief and pressurised him to change his stand as his outburst was bound
to damage the party in the region.
Several other Congressmen lamented
that the party chief himself dished out an emotional issue to the
Opposition parties by rejecting the report of the commission on the eve
of the byelection for the two Assembly seats here.
While other leaders
of the Congress, the largest partner in the Mufti-led coalition
government in J and K, have been promising the implementation of the
report, which was put in the coldstore by the successive governments in
the state, but Mr Sayeed has stirred the hornets nest by outrightly
rejecting it.
The implementation of the report was a major plank on
which the Congress contested the Assembly elections in 2002 and managed
to return to power after having spent 27 years in oblivion.
Although
the issue was included in the Common Minimum Programme of the coalition
on the demand of the Congress, but Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed
has been dragging his feet on implementation.
The commission had
recommended the creation of three new districts and a couple of
sub-divisions in Jammu. However, the then government in the state
created two districts in the Kashmir valley but not in Jammu.
This was
seen as yet another step of discrimination against the Jammu region as
the commission was appointed following a widespread agitation against
the “step motherly” treatment of the region by the state
government.
The Congress President, Ms Sonia Gandhi, during her
Assembly election campaign here, had also promised to implement the
report.
The statement of Mr Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed had put yet
another question mark on the intentions of the Congress Party vis-à-vis
the implementation of its other election promises pertaining to the
region where it got a majority of Assembly seats. The Daughters’ Bill
has already caused a lot of embarrassment for the party bosses in
Delhi.
The Opposition parties have accused the Congress of playing as a
second fiddle to the Mufti’s PDP that was continuously pursuing its
Kashmir centric policies, whereas the party’s ministers belonging to
Jammu, have miserably failed to watch the interests of the region.
The
Mufti Government has failed to implement the decisions that were taken
by the Cabinet in his absence over six months ago. The Cabinet that met
under the chairmanship of Mr Mangat Ram Sharma, gave clearance to
setting up of a finance commission that would ensure the equitable
distribution of funds to all the three regions of Jammu, Kashmir and
Ladakh.
However, no steps have so far been taken to set up the
commission although the issue was top on the agenda of Ms Sonia Gandhi
during her visits here.
The government has also failed to set up
another commission to oversee the equal development of all three
regions.
The Opposition parties are set to play up the issues during
the byelection for the two Assembly seats.
It is being felt here that
the assurances of the Congress, pertaining to Jammu, were not being
implemented, as the ministers from here were inexperienced as compared
to their counterparts from the Kashmir valley.
Accusing fingers are
being raised particularly at Mr Sharma who has failed to do anything
despite being given the status of Deputy Chief Minister.
