 "Haseeb Drabu")
The decision by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to drop Haseeb Drabu from her council of ministers for his remarks at a business meeting in Delhi is being hotly debated in political circles - especially what its consequences could be on the state's PDP-BJP ruling coalition.
By doing what she has done, the Chief Minister has proved that she is prepared to take political risks - and taking her for granted is something her colleagues and allies should learn not to do.
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders were aghast after Drabu, who was the Finance Minister, was quoted as telling a meeting organised by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry in New Delhi that Kashmir was not a political problem and a conflict state but a "social problem". He said this while seeking investments in the state from businessmen and saying the conditions in the state were conducive to business "where you will find some very interesting opportunities" not just to make money but also to have "a lot of fun and enjoy yourselves".
PDP Vice President Sartaj Madni had said this was something which negated the very existence of the PDP because it is the firm belief of the party that Kashmir is a political problem that needed political remedies to resolve.
Interestingly, instead of voices being raised in Drabu's favour by his own party men, leaders of the PDP's coalition unlikely partner Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seem to be more worried about the decision to drop him.
Some senior BJP leaders have rushed to Delhi to discuss the development and its fallout on the ruling coalition with the central leadership of the party.
How important Drabu had been for the PDP was proved not once, but many times in the past. The late Mufti Muhammad Sayeed trusted him to work out the terms of the agenda of alliance with BJP National Secretary Ram Madhav that finally paved the way for the present PDP-BJP coalition.
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"Mufti Sahib always loved him and would overlook what some of his party men would say about Drabu Sahib," said a PDP insider, not wishing to be identified.
In a letter released to the media after he was dropped from the cabinet, Drabu expressed sorrow for not being told by the Chief Minister or her office about the decision to drop him.
"I read it on the website of daily 'Greater Kashmir'. I tried to call the Chief Minister, but was told she was busy and would call back. I waited, but my call was never returned," he rued.
He also said in his letter that he had been quoted out of context by the media and that he what he had said was that Kashmir is not only a political problem, but that "we must also look beyond this", Drabu clarified.
Sayeed made Drabu his economic advisor during his 2002 chief ministerial tenure and later made him the chairman of the local Jammu and Kashmir Bank. In fact, Drabu became the point man between the PDP and the BJP after the 2014 assembly elections.
The problem is that many PDP leaders had of late started saying that Drabu was more of "Delhi's man in Kashmir rather than Kashmir's man in Delhi". Drabu is reportedly very close to Ram Madhav, the powerful BJP leader who is in-charge of Kashmir affairs, which many say "cost him his job". It is this image that has been floating around in the PDP that finally cost him his berth in the state cabinet.
While even Mehbooba's political adversaries, including the National Conference President, Dr. Farooq Abdullah, have welcomed her decision, her allies in the BJP are not happy at all about her decision.
"What did he say? He said it is a social problem and Kashmir is a society in search of itself. Is this wrong? We don't think this is something for which such a harsh decision should have been taken," a senior BJP leader told IANS, not wanting to be named.
His successor, Syed Altaf Bukhari, who has been assigned the finance portfolio, took a major decision immediately after taking over. Bukhari announced that the decision to replace the old treasury system by the Pay and Accounts Office (PAO) has been put on hold. The ambitious PAO system was Drabu's brainchild.
Bukhari's decision has been welcomed by hundreds of contractors in the state who had been on strike during the last 13 days demanding their pending payments and suspension of the PAO system at least till March 31.
Would Drabu's ouster be a storm in a teacup or would it have repercussions on the PDP-BJP ruling alliance in the immediate future? Ironically, Drabu's PDP colleagues say it won't be, while the BJP leaders in the state say it would.
(Sheikh Qayoom can be contacted at sheikh.abdul@ians.in)
