By IANS,
Jammu : Senior Congress leader and union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad Wednesday took on Jammu and Kashmir’s ruling alliance partner National Conference and opposition Peoples Democratic Party, saying the two parties were no match to the political largeheartedness of Congress.
Azad said that “during the previous coalition government of (Congress-PDP from 2002 to 2008), Congress had given full freedom to the then chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed of PDP to make any changes with regard to even Congress ministers.”.
“But, when our turn came, they did not reciprocate,” Azad said in a direct reference to the PDP pulling out of the government, when he was chief minister. The withdrawal of PDP support in 2008 had brought down the Congress-led coalition government.
“It was unfortunate,” he told a public meeting here on Wednesday.
He was equally unsparing of the current ruling alliance partner National Conference that is leading the government. “When some of our party men raised the issue of the rotational chief minister and power being handed over to Congress after completion of the NC-Congress government’s three years, I said ‘nothing doing’. The chief minister will have six years’ term, but again our large heartedness has remained a one sided affair only.”
This was a clear dig at Chief Minister Omar Abdullah who is seen to be making his own decisions, disregarding the Congress view point on issues of governance, and completion of the developmental works initiated during Azad’s tenure as chief minister.