NEW DELHI: The audience at the launch of veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad’s autobiography on Wednesday were treated to slices of Jammu and Kashmir history, with former Union Minister Karan Singh revealing how he put his foot down when then-Congress chief Sonia Gandhi almost made up her mind to allow PDP chief Mufti Mohammad Sayeed to continue as Chief Minister of the erstwhile state in 2005.
Former Sadr-e-Riyasat of Jammu and Kashmir Karan Singh, who launched the book, while narrating the sequence of events post the 2002 J&K election, said the National Conference (NC) emerged the single largest party but fell short of majority in the 87-member House and the Congress with the second highest MLAs decided to form the government.
“At some point, Sonia ji decided to invite PDP chief Mufti Sayeed to join the government but as Mufti saheb was, he would never take the simple path; he organised things in such a way that he insisted on becoming CM when the Congress had 21 MLAs and the PDP had only 16. So, it was decided to have three-year rotation with him and Ghulam Nabi as CMs but he insisted to be CM first and I don’t know why but Sonia Gandhi bowed to his impetuousness,” Singh recalled.
He said when the time for rotation came, the matter came to the Congress Working Committee and AK Antony, tasked with giving the feedback on the issue, opened the deliberations.
“Antony opened the meeting, and advocated generosity. I sensed something was wrong because Antony always says what Sonia ji wants him to say” he said.
“When my turn came I put my foot down. I said if you don’t give three years to Ghulam Nabi, why should people vote for the Congress. I also said this was the first time J&K was getting a CM from Jammu province.
“Sonia ji and PM Manmohan Singh had agreed to give Mufti Sayeed the next three years but the CWC eventually decided the right way, and Azad became CM. His term was the best in state’s history,” Karan Singh added.
He then narrated how things went downhill for Azad following an agitation against a decision of the state Cabinet to build permanent structures for Amarnath Yatra pilgrims.
“The proposal to build permanent structures had come from a minister from the PDP. When the decision was taken that government land would be given to the Amarnath Shrine Board for the task, Syed Ali Shah Geelani triggered an agitation against the move. The decision was withdrawn but Kashmir and Jammu burnt for days on end and Azad’s tenure as CM was cut short,” the veteran politician added, lauding Azad as an unusual and remarkable political figure who survived many a storm.
In the book, too, Azad reveals how Mufti Sayeed became CM in 2002 having “thrown a tantrum before Sonia Gandhi”.
“The thought to invite the PDP to join the government was mine,” writes Azad.