By INS
Despite initial hiccups and lack of support from New Delhi and coalition partners, Ghulam Nabi Azad’s performance as Chief minister has been rated as 50 per cent of what he could have delivered during a Survey by INS team.
Srinagar : Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has often been called as a politician with smiling face, but the politician seemxs to have turned into angry young man with coalition partner Peoples Democratic party seemingly giving him sleepless nights with slogans akin to separatist politicians and devising various means to scuttle his avowed objectives of bring peace back to state and ridding the state of the menace of corruption.
Ghulam Nabi Azad or Nabb Azad as he is called in local Kashmiri parlance for being a ruler from proud Dograland, took over the reigns of Jammu and Kashmir from Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on November 2, 2005 after much resistance by the PDP on the plea that a person from Jammu region won’t be acceptable to the already alienated people of Kashmir. The supporters of Mufti claimed that blood would spill on the streets of Kashmir if Azad was allowed to take over as the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir.
But the transition from Mufti Mohammad Sayeed to Ghulam Nabi Azad was rather smooth and Kashmiris did not spill their blood on streets on his coronation as chief minister of the state.
Immediately after taking over as the chief minister, Azad declared his ‘war against corruption and vowed to rid the state of No. 2 title among the corrupt states. But the swearing in of state cabinet gave first blow to his declaration of fighting the corruption as most of his cabinet colleagues were alleged to be corrupt. The second blow came when one of his cabinet colleagues was alleged to be the king pin in Panchayat Ghar electrification scam and instead of removing him from the cabinet, a tirade was started against the chairman of State Accountability Commission chairman Justice(Retd) RP Sethi, who ultimately resigned from the post.
The next challenge came from his own beleaguered partner in the coalition government, PDP who launched a no holds barred campaign against Nabb Azad and adopted Pak President Parvez Musharraf’s slogan of ‘self rule and demilitarization’ as a tool to hoodwink the Kashmiri populace. Congress and PDP entered into a verbal dual over the issue of demilitarization with Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, AICC president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on one side and PDP firebrand president Mehbooba Mufti and former chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on the other.PDP viewing a smooth sailing for Azad on the developmental front recalled its senior leader and Deputy Chief Minister, also holding the important portfolios of Finance, Law and Parliamentary Affairs, from the cabinet.
Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad in a bid to end regional bickering among Kashmir and Jammu region went a step ahead of implementing Wazir Commission report and ordered creation of eight districts, four each for, Kashmir and Jammu. His other achievements were enactment of a law for attachment of ill-gotten properties of bureaucrats and Roshni Act providing state land to the farmers free of cost, taking strict action against the accused in custodial killing cases, the infamous sex scandal accused.
Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad also promised to transform Jammu and Kashmir state into Khush-aal Jammu and Kashmir, but the slogan seems to have not taken off the ground as state is afflicted with the problem of unemployment, under development, lacking infrastructure for industrial development and bureaucrats and politicians trying to take control of everything in the state and leaving the chief minister fuming who recently claimed that he had Rs 5000 crore for various projects but only Rs 100 crore have been spent as corrupt want to usurp the money.
The crusade against corruption has also come under serious attack by coalition partner PDP as general secretary and Finance Minister Tariq Hameed karra has tried to play Muslim card by accusing the Vigilance Organization of taking action against Muslim officers only. The chief minister retorted by saying that corrupt politicians are trying to scuttle his crusade against corruption as they might be getting their share of the pie.
The unemployed youth have also not got anything except promises and police lathicharge during past more than 20 months of Azad rule in the state. During his tenure whosoever holds a protest for demanding salaries, relief or employment has been beaten brutally by the state police.The industrial scenario has not been upbeat as state is facing a major power shortage and the power department has also hiked tarrif during the recent months. The tourism industry has also nosedived due to the controversy raised by coalition partner PDP over extenstion of Amarnath yatra and repeated attacks on tourist by the terrorist groups.
Jammu and Kashmir state also witnessed huge exodus of ‘outside’ labourers following threat by the terrorist groups and APHC chairman of his faction Syed Ali Shah Geelani while state acted as a mute spectator.