Fayaz Bukhari
Srinagar, June 17: Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare and senior Congress leader, Ghulam Nabi Azad today said that his party has not taken any decision on the pre-poll alliance with National Conference (NC) in Jammu and Kashmir and the issue will be decided by the Congress Working Committee (CWC) ahead of Assembly polls in the State.
When asked about the pre-poll alliance with the NC in the State ahead of assembly polls next year during a function of his Ministry in Srinagar, Azad said: “No decision has been taken yet on the issue. The coalition is running and there is still one and a half year to go for polls. However, there are divergent views in Congress and NC on the issue. In Congress, there are some leaders who are for it and others are against it. In the same way, there are some leaders in NC who are in favour of alliance and others oppose it.”
At Kheerbhawani in Central Kashmir district of Ganderbal while speaking to reporters, Azad said: “The decision about the pre-poll alliance ahead of the Assembly elections will be taken by the Congress Working Committee led by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, President Sonia Gandhi and Vice President Rahul Gandhi.”
On the elevation of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as head of BJP’s poll campaign, Azad said that it has strengthened the Congress party and weakened the Bharatiya Janata Party and is set back to the NDA as its allies are running away.
“Modi’s coming has become a danger not for us but for the BJP. Congress has become stronger while the BJP has disintegrated and its allies are running away,” Azad said.
Azad welcomed the decision of Janata Dal (U) to snap its 17-year-old ties with BJP-led NDA over the elevation of Modi as BJP’s poll campaign head. “I want to congratulate them for the move which came very late though. I know Nitish Kumar and Sharad Yadav very well. They are secular people and I don’t know what prompted them to join the BJP-led NDA at that time,” he said.
On bringing JD (U) to UPA fold, Azad said that the question does not arise at this moment. “Let us see how the situation develops in the coming months,” he said.
And on the possibility of JD(U) re-joining NDA if Modi is removed from the post of poll campaign head of the BJP, Azad said: “BJP has gone too far and I think it is not possible for the party to go back.”
On the possibility of third front, Azad said that given the past experiences, the people of the country would not like to undergo the uncertainty again. “There will be only two fronts before the next Lok Sabha elections, the Congress led secular front and non-secular front”, he opined.
Azad said: “We have had third front rule in the past. Once the Government lasted two years in 1977 and on another occasion, the Prime Minister had to be changed twice, H D Deve Gowda and I K Gujral, in 18 months. So I don’t feel the people of the country would like another phase of uncertainty.”
On the reshuffle in the Government at the Centre, Azad said he had proposed at the Jaipur session of the AICC that ministers should not hold posts like General Secretary and Pradesh Congress Committee Chiefs a year ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
On the resignation of Ajay Maken and CP Joshi from Union Cabinet, Azad said that the party office bearers also have to work for strengthening the party. “The ministers have a job to do in continuing the good work on development front, the party office bearers also have to work on strengthening the party” he added.
On Ajay Maken replacing him as AICC General Secretary, Azad said: “Nobody has replaced me as General Secretary because I was the only General Secretary who was a Minister. There was no other General Secretary who was a minister. And this was going for the last four years. I have been telling my leadership from time to time that I would like to be relieved from the post of General Secretary. And the last effort I made was in the month of January at the three-day conclave of the party in Jaipur where I had recommended that no Minister should be a General Secretary and no Minister in the State should be a PCC president. Since January, I was pressing upon the leadership of the party that it should be implemented.”
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