'Cong must take over in J&K'

The Congress feels that the change of guard in the ruling alliance in Jammu and Kashmir""from the PDP to the Congress""proposed for November is the last chance for the party to redeem itself as a premier political force in the state.

"The Congress should take over the chief ministership from PDP as per the agreement between the coalition partners," said Abdul Gani Vakil, senior vice-president of state Congress.

Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had made it clear that the PDP would relinquish the post as per the pact between the allies, he added.

"Congress cannot afford to let go of the chance as it would lose its balancing character. It will be a disaster for the party. While separatists would be strengthened in the Valley, the communal forces will get an issue to implement their agenda in Jammu region," Vakil said.

Asked who will be Congress candidate for the chief minister's post, Vakil said while the final decision will be taken by party chief Sonia Gandhi, "only Ghulam Nabi Azad is capable of running a coalition government".

Another Congress leader from Jammu said Congress is the bigger partner in the coalition but "it has been invisible in the past three years as the PDP has been getting the credit for whatever good is happening in the state".

Political analysts feel that the PDP has consolidated the gains from the anti-National Conference wave in 2002 while making serious inroads in the Jammu region as well at the cost of Congress.

They say that the state Congress might suffer the same fate as its units in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh if it kept playing second fiddle to PDP.

Saying that most of the party's electoral promises, included in the CMP of the coalition, have not been implemented so far, the leader said nothing has been done regarding the implementation of the Wazir Commission on delimitation of Assembly constituencies and reorganisation of districts a main poll plank of the Congress.

If Congress does not take over the chief ministership now, the party will probably never get another chance to implement the recommendations of the commission.

This would erode the voter base of the party in the Jammu region where BJP and its allied forces are making a strong case for its implementation as well, he added.

A section of the state's Congressmen feels Azad is the choice for chief minister as he belongs to the Jammu region and is also a Muslim married to Kashmiri woman, party sources said.