With the resignation of the state Congress president Ghulam Ahmad Mir, the Congress in Jammu and Kashmir has taken the first step to re-invent itself in the union territory. The resignation of Mir has resolved the rift within the state Congress, reports Riyaz Wani
With the resignation of the state Congress president Ghulam Ahmad Mir, the Congress in Jammu and Kashmir has taken the first step to re-invent itself in the union territory. Though a successor is yet to be chosen, it looks likely that the party would choose someone who has credibility and a mass following.
For now, however, the resignation of Mir has resolved the rift within the state Congress. Earlier this year, a section of the senior party leaders deemed close to top Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad had revolted against Mir, threatening a vertical split in the party. In December last year, Azad addressed around ten impressively attended rallies in parts of the Jammu division and southern Kashmir, something that at the time greatly contributed to the revival of political activity in the union territory.
While Azad may have lost the last parliamentary election to the current union minister Jitendra Singh, he enjoys a good deal of goodwill in parts of Jammu and Kashmir if not an easily identifiable support base. This is because he has always deftly straddled the political divide between Kashmir and Jammu. In Jammu, his pro-India credentials remain impeccable – an attribute now even certified by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he lavishly praised him in Parliament last year.
And, in Kashmir Valley, his advantage is that no one expects him to be adversarial towards New Delhi, a characteristic that is expected of every Kashmir based leader. So Azad’s involvement could be a key to Congress revival in the union territory. But the question is whether the Congress high command would appoint an Azad loyalist as the new state president? More so, at a time when Azad has fallen foul of the Gandhis and is part of the G23, the group of Congress leaders seeking reforms within the beleaguered national party.
Whatever decision the high command takes would be critical for not only the revival but also the survival of Congress in the union territory. The party has witnessed a steep fall in its electoral fortunes in the state turned union territory since the landslide victory of the BJP in the Jammu division in 2015 Assembly elections. The saffron party won 25 of the 37 seats in the division enabling it to be a part of the coalition government with the PDP which got 28 seats.
