What dissident NC MLAs spoke to Farooq Abdullah about behind closed doors | Political Pulse News
At least 10 National Conference MLAs who have been part of a dissident group met with party president Farooq Abdullah at his Gupkar Road residence Friday.
Since the Cabinet reshuffle earlier this month, some party MLAs have raised concerns about the lack of Cabinet representation and the position of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s advisor, Nasir Aslam Wani, in the government.
After the two-hour meeting, Farooq and Omar Abdullah stepped out along with all the dissident MLAs. “We have spoken; they have raised some concerns and they are genuine. We have heard them all and considered the concerns they raised. We will address some of them now and some in due course,” said Farooq Abdullah, the party president.
The former J&K CM also dismissed concerns of internal divisions. “The news being spread about our party members being scattered is baseless. We are together as a party and the people who think that this party can be broken. This has not happened before and it will not happen in the future,” Abdullah said.
The NC president also underscored that the party’s “struggle for restoration of statehood and Article 370 and 35A would continue. God willing, we will achieve this.”
The Omar Abdullah Cabinet has room for only nine members, including the CM. While alliance partner Congress has chosen to stay out of the Cabinet, J&K remains a Union Territory and the NC has struggled to accommodate members from its large pool of 41 elected leaders.
Who were in the delegation?
The leaders who met Farooq Abdullah include Abdul Majeed Larmi, who first expressed discontent over the Cabinet expansion and his exclusion; Tangmarg MLA Farooq Shah; senior party leader and Eidgah MLA Mubarak Gul; former MP and Pampore MLA Hasnain Masoodi; Gurez legislator Nazir Gurezi; Poonch MLA Aijaz Jan; Budhal MLA Javed Iqbal Choudhary; Khan Sahib MLA Saifuddin Bhat; Lolab MLA Qaisar Jamsheed Lone; Karnah MLA Javed Mirchal; Uri MLA Sajjad Shafi; Rajpora MLA Ghulam Mohiddin Mir; and Bijbehara MLA Bashir Veeri.
After the meeting, Gurezi said, “We always bring our issues to the party leadership. A few days ago, we got together for a discussion and over social media it was hyped and it was said that a separate faction was going to split from the National Conference. No separate faction or party has emerged.”
Acknowledging there were some issues that had been put forth and discussed with the Abdullahs, Gurezi said, “They have given us their assurance that whether it is political issues or others, some will be resolved immediately, and some others will be addressed gradually.”
Expressing satisfaction with the meeting, MLA Veeri said the NC remains committed to the restoration of Article 370. “It took the BJP 80 years to remove Article 370. Our fight against this move (by the Centre) is only four years old, and we will aggressively pursue its restoration.”
Veeri said the legislators held a “comprehensive discussion with Dr Abdullah” and expressed hope that all matters of concern would be resolved soon. “This is in the best interest of the party and the people of J&K,” he said.
Another MLA, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the issue of unfair distribution of portfolios was a key point of conflict between the party leadership and the MLAs, “Both the party president and vice-president have suggested reviewing portfolios within six months to a year.” The MLAs said the “overarching role” of the CM’s advisor was also taken up in the meeting.
Ahead of the meeting with the party president, the MLAs held four meetings in Srinagar over the past week. The MLAs have also sought a time-bound implementation of the election manifesto along with “intensification” of the struggle for restoration of statehood and special status, restructuring of the cabinet, replacement of CM’s advisor Wani, among other demands.
The CM added four new ministers to his Cabinet earlier this week. According to party legislators, even before the Cabinet expansion, individual outbursts and murmurs of discontent within the National Conference had already begun surfacing. But the cabinet expansion brought this discontent to a head, triggering an organised pushback in the form of the meeting at the residence of a party MLA in Srinagar.
