Azad to enter fray, Saifuddin Soz missing in action

NEW DELHI: For the Congress, the forthcoming assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir will be, more than anything, an acid test on how its traditional bases in the Jammu region and its pockets of influence in the Valley have been affected by the t Amarnath shrine land transfer controversy, which led to the Ghulam Nabi Azad government falling between the great political divide of the state.

And as the national party enters the crucial battle with high stakes in its every single sitting seat, Mr Azad has decided to bite the bullet by entering the fray from his Doda base, but PCC chief Saifuddin Soz will not venture out of the pavilion even though his Rajya Sabha term is ending in just two weeks.

The Congress���s second list of candidates, expected in a day or two, will contain the name of Mr Azad, seeking re-election from Bhanderwah constituency of the Doda region. This will put an end to speculations that the former chief minister, following the fall of his government, would not contest the elections and leave the state politics to return to the AICC headquarters once again.

But Congress sources say Mr Azad���s exact future role ��� whether he will remain in the state or will return to the central leadership ��� will be determined by the post-poll position of the Congress in J&K.

On the other hand PCC chief Mr Saifuddin Soz, despite being projected by anti-Azad sections in AICC brass as the ���leader who will help connect the Congress with the Valley,��� appears to have decided against demonstrating `his popular support in his home ground.

After weeks of whispers about Mr Soz filing his nomination from a North Kashmir constituency to signal the state Congress clear break from the Azad era, the PCC chief is now learnt to have decided against testing the bouncy pitch personally.

However, many in the state party say the Azad-Soz rift has already created a sense of disarray in the state Congress with no clarity on who will lead the party campaign on the ground.

The anti-Azad patrons of Mr Soz in the high command have helped PCC chief, despite his limited grip on the state party establishment, to dominate the Congress election/campaign management committees by sidelining the Azad camp, but his reluctance to bite the poll bullet in the Valley at this crucial juncture, has not help his real task of emerging as a leader on the battle lines.