Mubashir Alam Wani
Srinagar, Apr 3: Jammu and Kashmir Congress chief, Tariq Hameed Karra and senior Congress leader Ghulam Ahmad Mir are all set to skip “emergency meeting” of legislators from ruling alliance called by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Friday.
Sources said that Karra and Mir will be absent due to prior commitments in New Delhi. “They will be attending a crucial central-level meeting where district presidents from across the country are participating in phase-wise discussions.”
However, despite their absence, the party sources said that other Congress legislators from Jammu and Kashmir are expected to attend Omar Abdullah’s meeting.
As per the sources, recent administrative decisions are making the elected government “uncomfortable” and the legislators will deliberate on future course of action. “The Congress party is also concerned over the recent bureaucratic reshuffle, questioning the rationale behind the transfers initiated by the Lieutenant Governor’s administration.”
A Congress leader said that his party’s stand has been very consistent from the beginning. “We have always opposed this dual control system where elected representatives are sidelined. Recent transfers of KAS officers by the LG administration undermine democratic governance,” he added.
“The Congress party is committed to its longstanding demand for the restoration of statehood. The governance must lie in the hands of elected representatives rather than bureaucrats,” the leader said, adding, “If bureaucrats are going to run the show, what is the point of holding elections.”
