A day after the seat of governance shifted from the summer capital to winter capital, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah surprised everyone. But for the coalition partner Congress, more than surprise, it was dismay and disbelief that took them over. The 43-year-old chief minister retracted his statement that there wasn’t any possibility of extending the 73rd amendment of Indian Constitution to Jammu and Kashmir.
“The state has the distinction of having a separate Constitution,” he said after opening of the Durbar Move offices. “Why should we implement 73rd Amendment when we have our own Constitution? We definitely intend to incorporate certain provisions of the Central Act. But, there is no question of extending the Constitutional amendments to the State,” he said, while claiming that the central government has already been informed.
The Congress Party, which had been instrumental in pressurising Omar over the amendment, is miffed. “It has come as a rude shock for us, we thought the matter had settled for ever, but doesn’t seem so,” says a party leader. Omar had earlier given into Congress’s pressure and agreed to incorporate the 73rd amendment which will give greater administrative powers to the local bodies. After meeting the Congress leadership to appraise them of the demands of their local unit, he had called for an emergency cabinet meet in which it was decided to fulfill the demands.
Sources say the Cabinet decided to issue an ordinance allowing the government to incorporate portions of the amendments. “The Chief Minister initially opposed, asking the Congress that the measure could be considered after the block development council elections in November,” they say. But sources say, the Chief Minister had to change his mind after a meeting with the state Congress leaders headed by Saifuddin Soz. “Along with others, Soz placed the demands before the Chief Minister. The most important among them being 33 percent reservation for SC, ST and women,” the sources say.
The Congress had threatened to boycott the elections if the demands were ignored. The tough stand by the party forced Omar to knock at the doors of Congress in New Delhi. “But he was advised to fulfill the demands of the local Congress by New Delhi leadership,” sources say, adding, he was assured that the Centre would look into his party’s (National Conference) demand for revocation of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) partially.
But, the shock for Omar came within 24 hours of him meeting the central Congress leadership. The Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, who was on a visit to the Valley, ruled out revocation of the AFSPA from the state. The Congress high command had asked Omar to make the amendments before the BDC polls. This meant that he had to postpone the polls slated for November. “It will give the government more time to incorporate laws to empower panchayats,’’ said Soz who along with Mohan Prakash has been authorised by Rahul Gandhi to initiate time-bound dialogue for the incorporation of the 73rd amendment.
“First the government issued notification for the polls and then cancelled it. This shows serious differences between the coalition partners,” said main opposition Peoples Democratic Party’s Nayeem Akthar. He said the Chief Minister had earlier said that incorporation of the 73rd amendment will violate Article 370. Responding to the Opposition’s attack Omar said: “But at no point has there been any pressure to bring in the 73rd amendment nor has there been any discord.”
Convener of J&K Panchayat Conference Shafiq Mir said, “The cancellation is a Congress conspiracy and the Chief Minister has succumbed to it.” The apex body has now decided to boycott the elections to four council seats after what it sees as a case of deception by the government.
- Sunday Standard
