Fresh appointments in Jammu and Kashmir Congress revive age-old rivalry between two regions

New Delhi: The revamp of the Jammu and Kashmir Congress was immediately received with resentment by different sections of the party. It also revived the age-old Jammu versus Kashmir rivalry.

On Tuesday, the Congress named Vikar Rasool Wani as its state unit chief and Raman Bhalla as the working president.

Both are from the Jammu region. While Wani is a resident of Banihal, Bhalla comes from Jammu city.

Similarly, Ghulam Nabi Azad, who has been named the campaign committee chairman, hails from Doda in the Jammu region.

Azad has declined the post. It was also not the first time that Azad had been given such responsibility. In 2014 ahead of the assembly elections, he was named the campaign committee chairman with Saifuddin Soz as the state unit chief.

So, why has he declined it now? Probably, he wanted the Congress leadership to name him the party's chief ministerial candidate and also sideline his bete noire Tariq Hameed Karra, a co-founder of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) along with Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.

It is well-known in Jammu and Kashmir political circles that Azad and Karra are bitter rivals within the Congress.

Karra had quit the PDP over the decision by Sayeed and his daughter Mehbooba Mufti to have an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He had defeated the National Conference (NC) stalwart and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Karra quit the Lok Sabha seat as well and joined the Congress. He was immediately appointed as a permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the highest decision-making body of the grand old party.

In the latest revamp, Karra, who hails from Srinagar, has been named as the head of the powerful Political Affairs Committee and vice-chairman of the campaign committee.

A strong contender for the Jammu and Kashmir Congress president's post, Karra, was given preference over Azad in the Political Affairs Committee.

However, Azad prevailed over the leadership in naming his confidante Wani as the state unit chief.

In fact, he had recommended four names - Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed, Ghulam Mohammad Saroori, Ghulam Nabi Monga and Wani -- for the top post. 

The Congress leadership clearly went by his recommendation.

Azad was among the group of 23 Congress dissenters who in August 2020 wrote to party chief Sonia Gandhi seeking among other things organisational reforms, elections from top to bottom, including the CWC, and an active and visible president.

At that time, Azad was Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha. However, he was later denied another term in the Upper House of Parliament. So was his other G-23 colleague Anand Sharma.

The G-23 is virtually non-existent now given that its prime mover Kapil Sibal has quit the Congress and got re-elected to the Rajya Sabha with the support of the Samajwadi Party and others except Manish Tewari have sought rapprochement with the leadership.

Coming back to the fresh appointments in the Jammu and Kashmir Congress, many leaders have argued that the party should have appointed one more working president from the valley.

Leaders like Mohammad Amin Bhat have opened a front against the alleged Jammu domination in the party. They claimed that the heads of all the frontal organisations, including the Youth Congress, Mahila Congress and NSUI (National Students Union of India) and different cells and departments are from the Jammu region while those from Kashmir have been completely sidelined.

These leaders further argued that the Kashmir province, which sends the highest number of lawmakers to the state assembly, does not figure in the high command's scheme of things.

Conventionally, the state unit chief was always from Kashmir till Azad's appointment in 2002 when he led the Congress to a good show resulting in the party joining hands with the PDP to form a coalition government with a three-year power-sharing agreement between the two parties.

Azad then took over as the chief minister from Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in 2005. Till then, all the chief ministers were from the valley. After him, the practice resumed with Omar Abdullah, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and Mehbooba Mufti occupying the post till the state came under the Governor's rule in June 2018 when the BJP withdrew its support to the PDP.

Jammu and Kashmir was later downgraded to a union territory in August 2019 following the abrogation of Article 370.

On Tuesday, Wani replaced Kashmir-based Ghulam Ahmed Mir who remained at the helm for over seven years from 2015 onwards.

Interestingly, Azad's camp is now divided into two groups - one supporting Wani, 46, and the others opposing him. Wani's opponents have argued that he is arrogant, highly unpopular and does not inspire confidence among the cadre. The opposing group has for the time being realigned itself with Mir in its bid to open a front against Wani.

There are strong chances that some of them might jump ship in protest against Wani's appointment. Whether they do so or are persuaded by Azad to stay put, only time will tell. But for now, the crisis in the Jammu and Kashmir Congress is far from over.