Cong not familiar with coalition lessons
The Congress-created crisis in the Jammu and Kashmir government has once again shown that the party does not yet seem to have developed the abilities required for running a successful coalition.
By TNN |
NEW DELHI: The Congress-created crisis in the Jammu and Kashmir government has once again shown that the party does not yet seem to have developed the abilities required for running a successful coalition.
The state chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who displayed an itch to undercut Mufti Mohammad Sayeed by backing the PDP leader’s bete noire Muzaffar Hussian Beig, nearly precipitated a crisis in the border state.
The Congress leadership here, wary of indulging in political adventurism in the sensitive state, today stepped in to bury the controversy. It said the party has no intention to impose its preferences on its ally. “There is a coalition in Jammu and Kashmir.
The PDP nominates its own people, there is no question of Congress deciding (on behalf of its coalition partner). The PDP has nominated Mr Zargar as the legislature party leader and has said it will communicate to the CM its nominee for the deputy chief minister’s post,” Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said. He added that the Azad government would accept the candidate put forward by the PDP for the post of deputy chief minister.
A section of the Congress leadership is of the view that this needless controversy will only widen the distance between the party and the PDP. Mr Azad, who is not comfortable with the political deal with the PDP, has been moving closer to the National Conference.
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But what is more worrying for the Congress is the larger message of the crisis — that the Congress is yet not ready to accept the demands of coalition politics. This perception will just not help the Congress in this era of coalitions. Several Congress allies are unhappy with the way they are being handled by the party. While the TRS left the UPA charging the party with violating the commitments made to it, parties like the NCP have made no secret about their mistrust of the Congress. Even the DMK had recently come down heavily against the party when an attempt was made to encroach on Dayanidhi Maran’s turf.
The government backed off and quickly converted a GoM to decide spectrum allocation into one for determining the defence’s response. The GoM constituted by the government has kept Mr Maran out of it. The NCP-Congress confrontation in Maharashtra recently saw Sharad Pawar sponsoring the candidature of Mr Rahul Bajaj.
Although the Congress made tough noises against it, it had no option but to remain silent over the allies’ decision. In the long run, Congress leaders here admitted that there was a need to project itself as an entity that can reconcile the conflicting aspiration of the allies.
And many concede that the flexibility that AB Vajpayee displayed in his tenure as the prime minister helped him keep the coalition together. Its failure to stay neutral could also prompt allies to form “Kangaroo panels” within the alliance.
Although some attempts were made in the past, the collective aversion for the BJP has been prompting them to stay together. But frequent skirmishes might change the mood within the alliance.
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