Cong gets more time to offer others space

The Congress today heaved a sigh of relief when Governor G C Saxena agreed to extend the deadline for government formation to next Monday. T...

The Congress today heaved a sigh of relief when Governor G C Saxena agreed to extend the deadline for government formation to next Monday. This gives state unit chief Ghulam Nabi Azad four more days to hammer out an arrangement with the People’s Democratic Party but the deadlock continues on who the Chief Minister should be.

However, the Congress today toned down its rhetoric and Azad, in a significant conciliatory gesture, visited PDP chief Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s residence this morning. And contrary to expectations, Azad didn’t stake claim to form the government when he met Saxena later.

Still wheeling, no dealing

DAY 6: • At 9.30 am, Azad calls on Mufti.
• After meeting with Mufti, drives to Raj Bhavan and requests for more time.
• Azad says that Congress will offer any ‘‘sacrifice’’ including the CM’s post if it’s in the interest of the people of J-K
• Democratic People’s Forum threatens to review support to PDP and Cong if they fail to agree on an alliance.
• PDP general secretary Tariq Hamid Qurra says his party will either head the govt or sit in opposition.

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But Mufti and his party aren’t budging an inch. One fallout of the ongoing stalemate has been that yet another issue has been added to the Kashmir problem: the divisive regionalism between Kashmir and Jammu.

Rejected by the people of Jammu who defeated the RSS-backed Morcha—which had campaigned for a split of the state—regionalism wasn’t an issue in Kashmir. However, the PDP’s harping on Azad’s Jammu credentials as a ‘‘disqualification,’’ has not only galvanised regional sentiment in Jammu but also hurt Azad’s home district Doda which has always stood by Kashmir.

Sources in the Congress say that letting the PDP lead could backfire in the Congress’s fight against the BJP elsewhere in the country. For, the PDP’s agenda could be ‘‘twisted’’ to seem like a ‘‘soft-on-Pakistan’’ message.

PDP’s insistence on leading the coalition with the Congress has its own logic. Their is a deep sense of suspicion in the party’s top brass that the PDP’s agenda could fall by the wayside and the Congress as Big Brother could render it marginal to the politics of the state.

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‘‘We are a new party and this is our first election,’’ said a senior PDP leader. ‘‘We cannot afford to uproot ourselves even before we achieve anything. There is no guarantee that our agenda will ever be implemented. How will we then face the people?’’

As the impasse continues, some in the party even see the latest polls as a dry run for the ‘‘real battle.’’ Said a senior leader and newly elected MLA: ‘‘There is a view in the party that if we refuse power because we doubt whether our agenda will be implemented, this will help the party to consolidate its strength further in Kashmir. Our eyes are already on the next polls which we will face with more confidence and from a moral high ground.’’

A section of the PDP is also toying with the idea of joining a Congress-led government only to leave it when there is a dispute over the PDP’s agenda. At one level, while this is being seen as a good PR move, it could be politically suicidal.

‘‘Once we join the government, it will become easy for the Congress to divide us. And it will be an embarrassment if our own people refuse to leave the government,’’ said a PDP leader.