Yogesh
Jammu, May 10: In a very strange statistic, the grand old party—Congress— which draws its connection with Kashmir, seems to be ignoring its leaders from Jammu and Kashmir as none from the Union Territory figures in the party’s top national team. Moreover, in the recent campaigns for Punjab by-polls and assembly elections in Karnataka, no party leader was included in Congress list of 80 star campaigners despite having president, battery of veterans and former ministers.
“It seems that the party high command is not having much faith in local leadership of J&K,” a senior J&K Congress leader said, adding, that, “It was evident during Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra (held in early January), when a team from Punjab was called in to manage a large portion of yatra, while celebrity leaders were invited to provide momentum to the BJY”, a senior party leader, said pleading anonymity.
Moreover, as per party sources, none of the Jammu and Kashmir native figured in the party’s national team, which is the top decision making body in the organization.
It was the first time in the last six-seven decades when J&K was unrepresented in the national team of Congress. Earlier, stalwarts like Karan Singh, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Saif-u-Din Soz, Durga Prasad Dhar, Inder Jit Malhotra and others were part of Congress national team and decision making body, but after Ghulam Nabi Azad left grand old party and parted his ways to constitute now political outfit, no one seems representing J&K within the party.
“There were posts of ten general secretaries, 20 PCC in-charges for different states and UT’s, around 66 in-charges secretaries and around dozen joint secretaries besides the President but interestingly none of them is native of Jammu and Kashmir or Ladakh,” another party leader said.
However, on many occasions Congress leader and Former President Rahul Gandhi said that he and his family belong to this Kashmiri Pandit community.
