Srinagar, March 27
The opposition National Conference has blamed the ruling Congress-led coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir for its “failure” to deliver despite "massive Central assistance" and alleged that "corruption, sex scandals and mismanagement" were rampant in the state. It has also sharply reacted to the Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad’s recent criticism of different political parties, without identifying the NC, for exploiting people for their own interests.

"The Congress and the PDP have broken all records of financial mismanagement, bad governance, falsehood and deceit in a vain bid to hoodwink people,” senior National Conference leader and former minister Mustafa Kamal said at public meetings in Pattan constituency. He termed the Chief Minister’s speech as an insult to the NC and described it as "frustration as a result of failure of the coalition government.” It was unfortunate that those very people of the coalition who made Jammu and Kashmir the most corrupt state were now lamenting, Kamal said. The former minister alleged that the government had nothing substantial to show but for the corruption, sex scandal, excesses and human rights violations by the security forces and state task force. He claimed that miseries of the people had multiplied during the past five years with two unprecedented snowfalls, two floods, a hailstorm, a devastating earthquake and closure of the National Highway for a record 40 days, which further compounded their miseries.

The Chief Minister, addressing a public meeting at Langate in north Kashmir on Sunday, said his only mission was to rebuild Jammu and Kashmir fast and seek peace and prosperity for the people. He said the sole target fixed by him was to bring back lost glory of Jammu and Kashmir, make it a role model state in every field of development and create peace for faster economic growth. "I believe in honest politics and abhor deceitful tactics to lure voters,” he said. He said the peace process initiated by the UPA government was moving in right direction and hailed the role of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi for the peace and development initiatives.

Azad said as soon he took over as Chief Minister, he waged a war against corruption. For the purpose, anti-corruption laws were strengthened. He blamed different political parties for misleading people with different slogans and exploited them for their "vested interests.”

Referring to developmental works, the Chief Minister said gigantic road construction programme under the Bharat Nirman programme and the Rs 24,000 crore Prime Minister’s reconstruction plan for infrastructure development were certain to transform the state’s development scenario. He added that the state, at present, was under a significant phase of allround development.

Jammu, March 27
While Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and central leadership of the Congress were trying to bring in truce between Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and the PDP leader Mufti Sayeed, but in a surprise development Azad summoned legislators of his coalition parties, except those of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), at his residence here this evening to endorse his statement for evolving consensus among the state's political parties on the sensitive issue of phased pullout of troops from Kashmir.

MLAs belonging to the Congress, the Peoples Democratic Front (PDF), the Panthers Party, the CPM and some independents supporting the Azad-led government were present at the meeting. The PDP MLAs were not reportedly invited to the meeting.

In a chain of events during the day, Azad first gave an interview to a news agency on the issue and then convened the meeting of legislators in which he read the contents of his interview circulated by the agency. The seniormost Congress leader and Minister Mangat Ram Sharma and other legislators endorsed the issue should not remain the concern of the PDP alone and all other political parties should be consulted by the Centre to reach a consensus.

Interestingly, these developments have come a day after PDP leader Mufti Sayeed met Sonia Gandhi at Delhi and complained to her about the "failure" of Azad to carry along the coalition partners. Mufti is understood to have given a long note to Gandhi against the "arrogant" functioning of the Chief Minister.

Political observers point out that Azad's decision to convene a meeting of the coalition partners at a time when the central leadership of the Congress and Manmohan Singh was trying to bring about a truce between him and the Mufti, might create more complications in the state. Mufti has already held two rounds of talks with Mr Manmohan Singh and security advisor M.K. Narayanan.

The PDF leader and minister Hakim Yaseen also endorsed the views of Azad. Later, he told this correspondent in the meeting he demanded that all political parties should be involved in decision making on the issue.

He said the issue should have been discussed in the five working groups that have been set up by the Prime Minister to hammer out a solution to the Kashmir problem.

He wanted the Centre should take into confidence the mainstream political parties as well as the separatists on the issue. They should be involved in the peace process.

Jammu, March 27
The ongoing debate on the PDP's demand for a cut in the size and strength of troops and repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act(AFSPA) has seemingly assumed regional overtones which may affect poll fortune of various parties.

While a majority of people in the Kashmir valley support the demand for the reduction of troops and the repeal of AFSPA, those in the Jammu and Ladakh regions oppose it. Consequently, the PDP is likely to succeed in extending and strengthening its bases in the Kashmir valley at the cost of the National Conference and the Congress, the former blaming the PDP for playing a gimmick by demanding troop reduction and the latter opposing any cut in the strength of troops.

However, the PDP, which had started establishing its units in various parts of the Jammu region and gained a foothold in R.S.Pora sector and its adjoining areas, may be a loser.

Against this, the Congress, which has limited pockets of influence in the Kashmir valley, may suffer a further erosion by vigorously opposing the PDP for raising the demand for the reduction of troops and scrapping of AFSPA.The Congress, which had won 15 assembly seats in the 2002 poll in the Jammu region, could improve its performance in the next election from the same province as a majority of people have expressed their resentment against any change in the AFSPA and withdrawal of troops.

On the basis of this analogy, the National Conference could compensate for the loss that it may suffer in the valley by strengthening its base in the Jammu region. But the initial reaction from the Muslim-dominated areas of Poonch, Rajouri and Doda, where a majority of people are for the withdrawal of troops, does indicate that the gains of the National Conference in these belts could be diluted by the weakening of peoples' support to the party headed by Omar Abdullah.

It is an admitted fact that the National Conference, on principle, is not opposed to withdrawal of troops and the repeal of AFSPA, but for scoring political mileage over its arch political foe, the Pipits leadership ridiculed the Mufti's demand. The idea behind this exercise was to widen the bridge between the Congress and the PDP which could prove politically advantageous for the National Conference.

By winning nine Assembly seats out of 37 in the 2002 poll from the Jammu region, the National Conference was found to be well-entrenched in the Muslim-dominated belts of Poonch, Rajouri and Doda districts. During the last four years, Mufti Mohd Sayeed and his daughter, Mehbooba Mufti, have paid frequent visits to the Poonch and Rajouri areas for making inroads into the National conference bastion. It is yet to be seen whether the NC support to the Congress on its "no" to reduction of troops and repeal of AFSPA will strengthen the vote bank of the PDP.

However, a senior PDP leader and former minister Ghulam Hassan Mir told this correspondent today that "I do not agree that the demand for reduction in troops and repeal of AFSPA can lead to regional polarisation." In reply to a question, he said wherever the PDP leaders explained the rationale behind its demand for withdrawal of troops and scrapping of AFSPA, people in the Jammu region supported our argument." Leaders belonging to the Congress and the National Conference argue" we are not opposed to withdrawal of troops and repeal of AFSPA, but we feel the time is not opportune."

"We do not want the peace process and decline in the level of militancy related violence to get derailed by sending troops to the barracks," they said.