Era of coalition Govts to stay, no single party can form Govt: Azad

‘Ministers of both NC, Cong will have to improve performance’
Jehangir Rashid

Union Health and Family Welfare Minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad addresses a huge public gathering at Devsar in south Kashmir's Kulgam district on Wednesday.
Union Health and Family Welfare Minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad addresses a huge public gathering at Devsar in south Kashmir's Kulgam district on Wednesday.

DEVSAR-KULGAM, May 2: Union Health and Family Welfare Minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad, today while emphasizing the need for coalition Governments, both at the national and state level, said that no single party can form Government on its own in future.
Azad said that main stream parties like National Conference (NC) and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) need support of Congress parties for the formation of Government in Jammu and Kashmir and if these parties will not work together with Congress Hurriyat Conference and Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) will be gainers in Kashmir and Jammu respectively.
Addressing a huge public rally in stronghold of the PDP here, Mr Azad said that at the Centre, the Congress party is leading the coalition Government over the past 8 years. “Before that Atal Bihari Vajpayee was heading a coalition Government as well. In the state this is the second coalition Government that we are supporting. In future, I don’t see any chance for a single party to form the Government. As such coalition Government is important for the overall dispensation both at the Centre and the State level,” he added.
Highlighting the importance and role of Congress in the state politics, Azad said both the NC and PDP cannot afford to keep the Congress at bay. He said both these parties have to take support from the Congress in case they want to form the Government.
“In the Jammu region, Bharatiya Janta Party would gain if the mainstream political parties decided to go it alone as far as the formation of Government is concerned. In Kashmir, a separatist party like Hurriyat Conference would be the big gainer with more legislators if the mainstream parties decide not to garner support of the Congress party,” Mr Azad said.
He said that he has already made it clear that there would be no rotation of the Chief Minister in the state adding that he is not in favour of frequent transfers and appointments. He said that Omar Abdullah would lead the National Conference-Congress coalition Government for six years adding there is no room for confusion on this front.
“It is not prudent to change the CM after three years. It was due to this reason that we decided to support Omar Abdullah as the CM for the full term of six years. The Congress party would support him but he too has the responsibility of leading the State towards peace, progress and prosperity,” the Union Minister said.
He expressed satisfaction over the performance of the State Government. He, however, said that Ministers belonging to both the Congress and NC would have to pull up their socks and improve their performance for better governance.
Mr Azad said that his criticism of the coalition Government on certain fronts should not be misconstrued as an attack on National Conference. He said that since coalition Government consists of both the National Conference and Congress ministers it is imperative that ministers of both the parties improve their performance.
“Some times I express my disappointment over the pace of works in the State and that does not mean I am criticizing the performance of the NC. I am critical of the performance of both the Congress and NC Ministers. Nobody from the NC should take it personal as my sole aim is progress and development of the State,” he asserted.
Mr Azad said that Ministers should not work on the party lines adding that they should be guided by the principle of solving the issues of the common masses. He said when it comes to development no discrimination whatsoever should be meted out to people irrespective of the political ideologies they belong to.
“Militancy was a big challenge for us and we have been able to wipe it out. It does not mean that we should be complacent. We wanted peace to return and that has been possible due to the effective strategy. We should build upon the gains that have been achieved after the wiping out the militancy,” said Azad.
Mr Azad said that development has taken a hit during the two decades of the militancy in the State. He said efforts should be doubled and tripled for taking forward the process of progress and development in the State. He stressed for invoking the double and triple shift of the working pattern in the State.
“Jammu and Kashmir has always received tremendous support from the Union Government. There would be no let up in the funds from the Centre and development would never become a casualty in the State. The State should become one of the model states of the country and for this there would be whole hearted support from the Centre,” he said.
Referring to the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), Mr Azad said that the Union Health Ministry has decided to provide 90 percent grants to the State under this scheme. He said that these grants have been reduced for the other States from 85 percent to 75 percent. He announced that 500 more health sub-centres would be set up across the State.
Mr Azad said that his ministry has provided 225 ambulances for the entire State adding 11 medical mobile units have also been established.
The rally was also attended by Deputy Chief Minister, Tara Chand, Independent Minister for Cooperatives, Dr. Manohar Lal Sharma, Public Enterprises Minister, Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed, G. M Saroori, MLA Inderwal, Abdul Majid Wani, MLA Doda, Viqar Rasool, MLA Banihal, MLCs Jugal Kishore, Ali Mohammad Bhat, Mohammad Amin Bhat and Abdul Majid Paddar, vice-president, Pradesh Congress Committee.