By IANS,
Jammu: The National Conference (NC) and the Congress — Jammu and Kashmir’s ruling coalition partners — held a co-ordination committee meeting here Saturday which underlined the strengthening of various commissions and recently-elected panchayats in the state besides consolidating the alliance.
Chairman of the co-ordination committee, Saifuddin Soz, who is also the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president spoke to media persons after the meeting. He said: “The meeting has decided to take steps to give more powers to various commissions like the Vigilance Commission, the Backward Classes Commission and the Human Rights Commission besides strengthening the newly elected panchayats.”
He said the meeting also took stock of various works done by the coalition and underlined “the need to expedite the welfare works which are in the pipeline”.
On the question of a reshuffle in the cabinet, Soz said: “We will give our view when that happens.”
He said the meeting also discussed steps for better co-ordination among the alliance partners. He added that the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) has to go one day as “it is a temporary law”. “But a consensus has to be formed and a suitable time chosen for its revocation.”
The meeting was attended by Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand of the Congress, senior Congress leader Mangat Ram Sharma, Finance Minister A.R. Rather and Rural Development Minister A.M. Sagar, both from the NC and senior NC leader Choudhary Mohammad Ramzan.
Soz said such meetings would be a regular feature now.
Congress party sources had Friday said the directions to hold this meeting had come from the “Congress high command”.
There has been bickering between the alliance partners over various issues. The Congress party has been charging senior coalition partner, National Conference of not taking its ally on board on major decisions. This was stated by Soz after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah announced in October last year that “AFSPA would be removed from some parts of the state within days”.
The Congress leaders have also alleged that the “NC is dominating the governance of the state and not giving Congress its due”. Congress sources said that party president Sonia Gandhi, during a meeting with Omar Abdullah and other NC and Congress leaders on Jan 5 on the occasion of completion of three years of the coalition, had underlined that “both the allies have to be equal partners without anyone having dominance over the other”.
The Congress leaders had also been demanding a rotation of the chief minister’s post, giving both the NC and Congress a three-year term. NC opposed this saying that it was decided at the time of forging the alliance that “Omar Abdullah would be chief minister for full six years”.