Jammu, December 30
Deal between the Congress and the NC is almost final. Omar Abdullah is all set to become the next Chief Minister of the coalition government in the state. The move paves way for the Congress to return to the corridors of power in the state after it was ousted in 2002 polls.

However, leaders within the party feel that had there been no Amarnath land agitation, the NC would have surely and easily secured the magic figure of 44 in the 87-strong legislative Assembly to form the government on its own.

“The PDP and the BJP had hatched a conspiracy to rake up the land controversy so as to further their political gains and they succeeded in their nefarious designs,” said a senior NC leader who had lost a key constituency to the BJP in the recently concluded Assembly elections.

“Had there been no land dispute, the NC would have formed the government on its own without seeking support of the Congress,” he said, adding that the dispute also dampened the Congress prospects as well.

“Though there were many issues, including anti-incumbency factor, but planks of internal bickering between the Congress and the PDP besides constantly escalating corruption and unemployment during the tenure of the previous coalition dispensation were more than sufficient for us to romp home,” he claimed.

If the PDP had opened account for the first time in the Jammu region in the just concluded polls, then the BJP, too, made major gains winning 11 seats. In 2002, the PDP had slotted 18 seats, all from the valley while the BJP had bagged just one seat of the Nagrota constituency.

It may be mentioned here that the NC had won 57 seats in 1996 and then had slumped to 28 in 2002. In 2002 polls, the party had won nine seats from the Jammu region compared to six in 2008.

Srinagar, December 30
Expressing confidence that the Congress- NC alliance would last long, former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah today said the state needed employment for youth, electricity, healthcare and education.

Meanwhile, Dr Abdullah said there was need to have good relations with Pakistan and involvement of the separatists on Kashmir issue.

Speaking to party workers at Gupkar here today before leaving for Delhi, Abdullah said the alliance would work to address the issue of the people.

“We (the Congress-NC) were in alliance in the past also and worked for the betterment of the people,” he said recalling the Sheikh-Nehru association and later his friendship with Rajiv Gandhi.

He said: “Our youths needed employment. We need electricity, hospitals and educational institutions. The unemployment is a big issue, people are getting very little electricity, roads are damaged and there is need to improve the health sector.”

Dr Abdullah also said there is urgent need to improve relations between India and Pakistan. — UNI

Jammu, December 30
Number of factors have weighed heavy in favour of the tie-up between the Congress and the NC. The Congress high command, after prolonged deliberations, opted for alliance with the NC instead of the PDP because the latter had “ditched” it by withdrawing support in July over the Amarnath land row. The agitation had cost the Congress heavily in the Jammu region during the recently concluded Assembly elections. The Congress feared that resumption of alliance with the PDP could affect the future of the party in the Jammu region.

According to Congress sources, the party leadership had received feedback from Jammu that a tie-up with the PDP could cast a shadow on its performance during the ensuing Lok Sabha elections. Anger against the PDP for forcing the former Azad-led government to revoke the order to divert the land to the shrine board is yet to get diluted. Hence, a tie-up with the Muftis could cost the Congress heavily during the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

In addition to this, the NC has stronger party base in the Jammu region in comparison to the PDP. In the recently concluded Assembly elections, the PDP had won two seats while the NC had bagged six.

Congress party sources said when under pressure from the agitators, the Centre had prepared a draft for withdrawing the land revocation order. The PDP leadership had not supported it. Instead, NC patron Farooq Abdullah along with other leaders of the party lent their support to the move that led to the diffusion of the crisis in Jammu. Sources added that the dice was cast in favour of Omar Abdullah after the Congress high command found him more amenable than Farooq Abdullah. Since Omar had friendly relations with Rahul Gandhi and Sachin Pilot, the incumbent Chief Minister could be bridled.

They also stated that the PDP leadership had desperately tried to revive the alliance with the Congress. At one stage it had sent feelers to the Congress high command that it was prepared to accept Saif-ud-Din Soz as the Chief Minister but there was no response from Delhi. Later the PDP leaders dashed another feeler to Delhi that it would accept Ghulam Nabi Azad as the Chief Minister. Yet again there was no response indicating that the Congress high command, despite suggestions from Soz and ML Fotedar favouring resumption of alliance with the PDP, had made up its mind to experiment with sharing power with the NC. The two parties have coexisted in the past.

In 1975, when Sheikh Abdullah regained power, the Congress lent support to the Sheikh-led government. In 1986, Rajiv Gandhi and Farooq Abdullah joined hands and contested the 1987 Assembly elections under an alliance. This arrangement lasted till 1990 when Farooq resigned in the wake of rising of militancy and protest against the appointment of Jagmohan as the Governor.

Jammu, December 30
State BJP president Ashok Khajuria, who won Jammu East seat in this state Assembly election, today thanked his supporters and party workers in a press conference.

He said: “We have come in the Assembly with 11 seats and are all prepared to play the role of a constructive opposition party. As per the promise made in the BJP’s manifesto, we will introduce the Delimitation Bill in the Assembly.” He also urged for the support of other parties in this task.

He termed the coalition between the NC and the Congress as ‘unholy alliance’ who were all set to form a new government in the state.

Khajuria said: “We call the alliance unholy for formulating destructive policies such as the Autonomy Bill and self-rule. Such policies do not bode well for the welfare of the state. The new government must come up with a common minimum program, cut out for the development of entire region of Jammu, Ladakh and the valley.”

He also took a snipe at the former Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad’s statement that he made soon after the declaration of the poll result that people of Jammu made a big mistake by voting in favour of the BJP.

Meanwhile, senior BJP leader and newly elected MLA Prof Chaman Lal Gupta yesterday said the proposed alliance between the Congress and the NC could prove dangerous as a similar coalition in ‘80s had given rise to militancy in the state.

“The proposed alliance between the Congress and the NC can prove dangerous again as a similar formation in eighties had proved devastating as it gave rise to the armed militancy that had cost heavily not only to the state but also to the country,” Gupta said while addressing a rally. Regarding the increase rise in the BJP seats in the Assembly, he said: “Rise of the strength of the BJP from one member in last Assembly to 11 now would provide political strength to the forces of nationalism enshrined in the BJP agenda.”

Jammu, December 30
The Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party (JKNPP) chairman Bhim Singh has termed the NC and the Congress coalition as a total disaster of the interest of the three regions.

“It was the NC which sowed the seeds of communal and regional conflicts in 1946 by rising anti-Dogra slogan of quit Kashmir,” Bhim Singh said.

He said: “It was the NC that enacted most dangerous law in 1981 called the Resettlement Act (Bill No. 9) to enable nearly 5 lakh Pakistan nationals, who had migrated to Pakistan, to come back to Jammu, including their descendents, and reclaim their property which they had left voluntarily in 1947.”

He said it was the NC that made a law to ban the increase of the number of Assembly seats till 2026 with the help of BJP MLAs in 2001. “It was the NC which passed a law to stop delimitation of the constituencies to deny the people of Jammu their equitable rights to have equal number of seats in the Assembly with the valley,” he added.

He said the NC had supported the Congress and the PDP to deprive women of their state subject if they married outside the state.

He blamed the NC for encouraging the Kashmiri youth to go to Pakistan for terrorist training in 1989.

“It was the NC which rigged the 1987 Assembly polls by declaring several elected candidates as defeated which became the flash point of militancy in the valley,” Singh said.

Jammu, December 30
The Assembly poll results have clearly indicated that the campaign against family rule, launched by the Jammu Kashmir Democratic Party (JKDP) led by Ghulam Hassan Mir, has failed to influence the voters in the valley. Mir had floated the JKDP after quitting the PDP to fight against the family rule of the Muftis and Abdullahs.

Despite his campaign against the family rule, Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah, Mufti Mohd Sayeed and Mufti won the Hazratbal, Sonawar, Ganderbal, Anantnag and Wachi seats, respectively. Mir could retain his Tangmarg seat but 26 other candidates fielded by him lost the election.

When contacted, Mir said: “My fight against the family rule will continue.” Asked whether the poor performance of his party has dented his campaign, he stated: “Numbers do not matter. My resolve to fight against the family rule has not been dampened.”

In reply to another question, he said; “Let the Congress form the government.”When reminded that the Congress does not have the majority, he shot back: “Once it forms the government, others will support it. I will be the first MLA to lend support to the Congress government.”

About the proposed third front, he said the election results would no impact on “my plan to form the front”. However,Tarigami of the CPM seemed to pessimistic. He said: “In the present circumstances, formation of a third front was out of question.”

Srinagar, December 30
Omar Abdullah, who is to head the NC-Congress coalition government, will be the youngest Chief Minister of the state. This is for the first time that three former Chief Ministers - Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and Farooq Abdullah - stand elected to the Assembly.

While Farooq Abdullah and Ghulam Nabi Azad will be on Omar’s side in the treasury benches, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed would be in the opposition.

Omar, born on March 10, 1970, is the son of Farooq Abdullah and grandson of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah. Both have been the Chief Ministers of the state in the post-1975 period.

Omar was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1998 and got re-elected in 1999 and 2004 from the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency. In 1998-99, Omar was member, committee on transport and tourism; and member, consultative committee, Ministry of Tourism.

After his re-election for the second consecutive term to the Lok Sabha, he took oath as Union Minister of State, Commerce and Industry in October 1999. On July 22, 2001, he became the Union Minister of State, External Affairs in the NDA government headed by the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. Omar first took over as president of the NC in June 2002, months before the last Assembly elections. He was re-elected as president of the NC for the second term in 2006.

Having been elected to the Lok Sabha for three consecutive terms, Omar Abdullah lost to PDP’s Qazi Mohammad Afzal from Ganderbal, home constituency of the Sheikhs in 2002. His grandfather, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, was elected from the Ganderbal constituency in 1977. Later, Farooq Abdullah was elected from Ganderbal in 1983, 1987 and 1996. Farooq did not contest the 2002 Assembly elections and instead fielded his son, who lost to the PDP candidate.

In the 2008 Assembly elections, Omar again fought against Qazi Afzal defeating him. This victory paved the way for Omar to become the youngest Chief Minister of the state. Farooq Abdullah won from the two constituencies of Hazratbal and Sonwar in the recent elections.

Srinagar, December 30
The PDP today said it was “not disappointed” over the decision of the Congress to join a government led by the NC and maintained that the people of the state had given it a mandate to play the role of a "good, constructive opposition".

"We are happy that we are finally going to see a democratically elected government sooner than later and we have always been saying that people have given us a mandate to play the role of good, constructive opposition and we will do that,” PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said shortly after the announcement in New Delhi that NC chief Omar Abdullah will be the new Chief Minister.

Asked if she was disappointed that the Congress had decided to form the government with the NC, Mehbooba said: “No, not at all. We are not disappointed at all because we feel our party has a political agenda which is more important to us than just power sharing. Last time also we had a common minimum programme with the Congress where the PDP's agenda was the main thing.”

After the 2002 Assembly polls, the PDP and the Congress ruled in the state by turns with two parties getting the Chief Minister's post in rotation but fell out with each other in the aftermath of the Amarnath land row earlier this year.

The PDP withdrew support to the Congress-led government in June, leading to resignation of the then Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad followed by dissolution of the state Assembly and promulgation of the Governor's rule in the state. — PTI

Srinagar, December 30
State secretary of the CPM Mohammad Yusuf Tarigami has welcomed the agreement reached between the Congress and the NC leadership saying the new dispensation must come up to the expectations of the public.

Tarigami also congratulated Omar Abdullah for heading the coalition. He said his party would extend all help and support to the new dispensation in the interest of the people of the state.

The CPM leader observed that there were mammoth challenges before the government and it had to act reasonably keeping in view the aspirations of the battered people of the state.

“The first and the foremost task before the government should be initiation of the process of reconciliation between different regions and communities keeping in view the recent communal and regional polarisation engineered by the political vested interests,” he said.

Tarigami stated that the new dispensation would have to restore the confidence of the public vis-à-vis fair and accountable governance.

“The new government will have to reorganise and ensure that these institutions work for the benefit of the common man rather than satiating greed of the political elite,” he said.

Jammu, December 30
Though Independents failed to make a mark in these elections, three Independents in the region not only gave some political bigwigs a run for their money but two of them also emerged winners.

Interestingly, both winners defeated BSP candidates while the bigwigs were pushed to third and fourth spots.

The first among them is Charanjit Singh from Kathua, who defeated BSP candidate S.R. Majotra. He also defeated heavyweights like sitting Congress MP Lal Singh and former minister in previous Congress-PDP government Babu Singh in a multi-cornered contest. Babu Singh finished third with over 10,000 votes.

Another Independent candidate, who hit the headlines, is Ashwani Kumar Sharma from Bishnah. Sharma defeated Kamal Arora of the BSP. Also pitted against him were former Congress minister Gulchain Singh Charak and land protester Kuldeep Verma’s widow Shilpi Verma of the BJP. Former state BSP president and NC candidate Yashpal Bhagat was also in the fray from Bishnah.

The third Independent, who hogged the limelight is Surinder Singh Shingari from Jammu West. Though he was defeated by senior BJP leader Chaman Lal Gupta, he pushed of the Congress to the third spot.

Jammu, December 30
Claiming to be a pro-Jammu outfit, dismal performance of the Panthers Party in the recently concluded Assembly elections has compelled the party think tanks to do some soul searching.

Similarly, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati’s elephant, too, could not trample a few and drew a blank.

“Instead of improving upon our previous tally of four seats, we slumped to three in these elections and hence an in-depth diagnosis to see the deficiencies is needed,” said former Education Minister and party spokesperson Harsh Dev Singh.

It may be stated here that party candidates Harsh Dev Singh, Balwant Singh Mankotia and Yashpal Kundal retained their seats from Ramnagar, Udhampur and Samba, respectively, but Faqir Nath lost the Chenani seat to Congress candidate Krishan Lal.

Similarly, party chairman and chief ministerial candidate Prof Bhim Singh, who took a last-minute plunge from Jammu East, too, could not emerge victorious. He was defeated by state BJP president Ashok Khajuria.

The party had fielded over 70 candidates in the elections.

Harsh said despite playing a positive role within and outside the House, the party couldn’t get the desired results. “Since results cannot be reversed, we would sit in the Opposition and play a healthy role highlighting the issues of public importance,” the former minister said.

Branded as ‘noise brigade’ by the former Congress-PDP coalition partners and even the NC legislators in the House, only three out of four party candidates succeeded in maintain a winning streak in the Assembly polls.

However, sources within the party said: “We fielded 73 candidates but at the same time we lacked right individuals to deliver the results.”

Meanwhile, Mayawati’s elephant, too, could not trample a few as had been anticipated by many. They had believed that the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister’s “social engineering” formula would pay rich dividends in the state.

The BSP that had won Vijaypur seat in 2002 elections could not win even a single seat this time. The party had fielded 83 candidates from as many seats.

Manjeet Singh, who had won the Vijaypur seat in 2002, later joined the PDP and became a minister in the previous coalition government.

Srinagar, December 30
The state exchequer turned richer by more than Rs 54 lakh as nearly 1,100 defeated candidates lost security deposits in the just-concluded Assembly elections. The figure is almost three times higher than the previous 2002 polls.

According to the official data, out of 1,354 contesting candidates, nearly 1,100 lost their security deposits of Rs 5,000 each paid towards the state exchequer at the time of filing nominations.

“Any candidate securing less than one-sixth of the valid votes polled in a particular constituency will lose his security deposit and this money goes to the state exchequer,” Chief Electoral officer of the state BR Sharma said. While 653 of the 757 candidates from the Kashmir division, including the Ladakh region, lost their security deposits, over 430 candidates from the Jammu region also had to face his ignominy.

Only 373 candidates lost their security deposits in the 2002 elections from the 87 constituencies of the state.

Interestingly, in seven of the 46 constituencies in Kashmir, none of the losing candidates were able to save their deposits. These constituencies are Karnah, Sonawari, Khanyar, Habbakadal, Pulwama, Wacchi and Shopian.

There were 12 constituencies where two losing candidates polled enough votes to save their deposits while in the remaining 31 seats of the Kashmir division, only one candidate managed to achieve this face-saving target.

In seven constituencies, 20 or more candidates lost their deposits. In Amirakadal seat, the highest 27 candidates saw their purses getting lighter while in Sonawar (23), Sopore (22), Sonawari, Anantnag (21 each), Habba Kadal and Shopian (20 each) could not save their deposits. — PTI

Jammu, December 30
Owing to grim wrangle between villagers and the Wildlife Department, some 12,000 migratory birds, which halt at the wetland area of Gharana en route Siberia between November and April, were made to abandon their sojourn and leave midway.

The lake in Gharana, which till a few days ago was replete with these birds, now gives a deserted look as the villagers forced these birds to flee by bursting crackers.

The villagers, who have encroached upon a huge chunk of land around the wetland, are annoyed with the Wildlife Department’s drive to retrieve its area with the help of the Revenue Department.

Seeing the swelling number of migratory birds, the department is planning to build a wildlife sanctuary. The villagers have also been given a proposal to give away their land to the department in lieu of a good financial remuneration. But the entire exercise has soured the relation between them.

Bachan Lal, a guard with the department, said: “The villagers do not let us keep vigil on birds. We are not allowed to venture in nearby areas to keep track of wounded or killed birds. Given this situation, the birds which get seriously wounded by entangling in the barbed wire around the border areas of Pakistan due to heavy fog cannot be saved.”

The mounting tension has aggravated the matter so much that some villagers even beat up staff of the Wildlife Department recently. The annual exercise of clearing the lake of weeds to make it feasible for the stay of migratory birds was also prevented by the farmers this year.

The villagers, too, have their side of the story to tell. According to sarpanch Jagar Ram: “The migratory birds spoil our crops of rice that is ready for harvest in November and wheat that is sown in December. So we have to shoo them.”

But on the matter of surrendering their land, the villagers express their reservations. Ganesh Kumar, resident of the village, says: “Agriculture is our only source of living. We can never give away our land no matter how much compensation is paid to us.”

The problem is getting complicated day by day. AK Shrivastva, Wildlife warden of the state, assures: “Once we get the demarcation of the land completed, we will remove the encroachment. We will also clear the unwanted weeding from the lake, remove adjoining sewage disposal system and expand the lake area. We will create the perfect ecosystem for the survival of the migratory birds.”

Had it been some other place, tourism would have been boosted by creating favourable conditions for these migratory birds. But in Gharana the fear is that these birds will change their course if a timely solution was not sought.

Jammu, December 30
In a significant judgment, Justice JP Singh of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court today quashed the detention of Mohd. Taj detained under the Section 8 of the J&K Public Safety Act, 1978, for indulging in activities prejudicial to the security of the state and directed the state respondents to set petitioner to liberty, if not required in any other case.

The petitioner on bail in FIR No. 62/2007 registered under the Sections 4/5 of the Essential Commodities Act and 7/25 of the Indian Arms Act at Channi Himmat police station, Jammu, when without there being any material on records justifying his detention under preventive custody, he was erroneously ordered to be detained by the District Magistrate (DM), Jammu.

The petitioner questioned the DM’s order on the ground that the detention order was issued on November 21, 2007, and was executed on March 3, 2008, which proved that there was no proximate link between the grounds of detention and purpose therefore.

VK Chopra, AAG, on the other hand submitted that in view of nature of activities of the petitioner, the DM was justified in directing his preventive detention as the petitioner was likely to indulge in activities prejudicial to the security of state.

The HC while quashing the detention order observed that the inaction of the respondents and that too without any explanation, as to why detention order issued in November 2007 had remained unexecuted till March, 2008, demonstrates passing of detention order in a routine manner. Had the detaining authority intended to prevent any such activity of the petitioner, which would have been prejudicial to the security of state, there would not have been any remissness on behalf of the District Magistrate and law enforcing agencies in executing detention order, when petitioner is not stated to have been absconding.”

Jammu, December 30
Even though the erstwhile coalition government had brought a revolution in the education sector, various government degree colleges san infrastructure, manpower and facilities and it appears that the state government has been intentionally encouraging private players to monopolise a key segment that enlightens a society.

While most of the newly opened colleges are operating from temporary accommodations, the government engaged lecturers on ad hoc system, to fill some vacant posts, have also not been paid for the past four months.

“There is not even a single government degree college in three tehsils of Sunder Bani, Nowshera and Kalakote but a private college is certainly there,” Joginder Gupta, a social worker, said.

Calling it a dangerous trend, Gupta alleged that the government was encouraging ‘commercialisation’ of education.

The government colleges at Dharmari (Reasi), Budhal (Rajouri), Thanamandi, Basohli, Mendhar, Hiranagar, Samba, Akhnoor, Ramban and women college Kathua etc did not have their own buildings. Besides, other premier colleges are also faced with infrastructural and administrative problems.

“I have not got any remuneration for the past four months,” a contractual lecturer at Bani said. He said like him several other contractual lecturers were faced with similar economic constraints.

President of the Progressive Students Association Rahul said rampant privatisation of the educational sector was resulting into commercialisation and exploitation.

However, ND Wani, director Colleges, said: “Our main focus is on expansion and consolidation of government degree colleges and the process is going on in a phased manner.”

Srinagar, December 30
Ghulam Hassan Sheikh, supervisor of the Srinagar Municipal Corporation, in Bemina area has been caught red-handed by the state vigilance authorities while demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 5000 from a complainant for sparing his shed from demolition.

An official spokesman said a case had been registered on the complaint of Manzoor Ahmad Khan alleging that he had constructed a shed in his compound at Gowsia Colony, Bemina. The accused supervisor was demanding bribe to spare the shed from the demolition.

In the course of investigation, the officials of the department laid a trap at Rawalpora, near the residence of the accused supervisor. He was caught red-handed while accepting Rs 5000 as the bribe money from the complainant. The accused had been arrested for further investigation.