Jammu, May 18
All is not well in the National Conference (NC) and the Congress alliance in Jammu and Kashmir. Leaders of both parties are back to attacking each other after a “ceasefire”. Their weapon of choice: pinpointing “bungling” in departments held by the coalition partner.

The National Conference and Congress have been running a coalition government in the state since January 5, 2009, but relations between the partners have been far from cordial. Leaders of both parties rarely let go an opportunity to settle score with each other.

While National Conference leaders resorted to veiled attacks on Congress ministers, Congressmen went all out to "publicly expose" corruption and bungling in departments held by NC ministers.

Veteran Congress leader Hari Singh alleged large scale bungling in the MGNREGA scheme while addressing a party workers’ block committee meeting of the Vijaypur Assembly segment. Senior NC leader Ali Mohammad Sagar holds the rural development portfolio. Hari Singh minced no words in exposing, what he alleged, was rampant corruption in the department.

Hair Singh, also vice-president of the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC), said there was a general complaint that most MGNREGA cardholders had not got work under this scheme for the last five months.

Complaining of misappropriation of funds, Singh alleged undeserving people were getting the benefits of schemes meant for BPL people and that some influential people were availing benefits of all such schemes.

He said there was bungling in the BPL ration cards. “It is reported that the poor have been left out in the process while the ineligible are availing of BPL ration,” he alleged and demanded that fresh verification be conducted to include deserving people in the BPL lists.

Another Congress leader, Manjit Singh, has already launched a campaign against Industries and Commerce minister Surjeet Singh Slathia, a National Conference MLA from the same segment.