Present JKPCC chief and member Rajya Sabha, Prof. Saif-u-Din Soz came to limelight in 1998 at national politics of India, when he had brought down Atal Bihari Vajpayee government at centre with his onevote. In fact, no confidence motion was presented in the parliament by then opposition party and while proving its majority on the floor of the house, BJP government led by Atal Bihaari Vajpayee was short of only one vote . National Conference of Jammu and Kashmir was ally of BJP at that time and it had directed its all MPs to vote for BJP including Prof. Soz who was NC MP by then but he refused party dictate and did against . It is said that Soz came to limelight only due to his one vote which he used properly . And this single vote turned theboat of his luck. It was perhaps for the first time in independent India’s history, when government needed only one vote and it could not manage . That too in the country, where MPs and MLAs get cash from the people for raising a public interest question in the house . Horse trading is not something new and unusual in Indian politics, many times, at the time of formation and dislodging the governments in India, the leaders of the political parties have to lock their MPs and MLAs in hotels so that they are not purchased by the other party . And in many cases, we have seen MLAs and MPs were openly sold and purchased at the time of formation and dislodging of governments at central and state level . In Jammu and Kashmir, the practice has been a usual affair . But, Prof. Saif-u-Din of Jammu Kashmir set the different history despite the fact that his political future was at stake at the moment he took the decision of voting against BJP . At that time, Prof. Soz was National Conference MP and his party was ally with BJP at centre.
Despite the party’s directive to vote for BJP, Prof. Saif-u-Din Soz did against and brought down Vajpayee government . With the result, Prof. Soz was expelled from party by National Conference leadership for his fault of going against party lines . At that time, his one vote proved two things. Firstly, it was established that a single vote if casted properly, costs lot, even it can bring down the governments in the country like India. Secondly, his single vote proved that there are still people in Indian politics who can not be sold and purchased at any cost . Due to his single vote against the government, the nation went for bi-elections. Though , later BJP again came in power and it rewarded National Conference by including Omar Abdullah of National Conference as MOS in the union BJP council of ministers. Omar Abdullah, even continued to be part of BJP government when the community he belonged was being cleaned in Gujjrat by BJP government . I don’t know much about the personal life of Prof. Soz, but so far his public life and his performance at the public forums is concerned, he always proved that he is the man of conscious. Any body can guess that if Prof. Soz would have desired any thing from then Vajpayee government, when the government needed only one vote, Soz would have got, but he didn’t, which makes him different from all the politicians of Jammu and Kashmir . It doesn’t matter whether he enjoys mass support or not . Even a criminal can organize a big rally of innocent people and even he can manage the votes in his favor by using all unfair means . But he can not compete with the value of Prof. Soz’s one vote which he uses on the basis of principals and conscious . Instead, the National Conference of Jammu Kashmir, which is being headed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, has always been trading with conscious . It has been history of this organization and its leaders that they always speak different tune at different places and they can go up to any extent for the sake of power . One laughs, when Omar Abdullah criticizes BJP. Perhaps he forgot that his party had punished Prof. Soz only because he had voted against BJP in 1998. And Omar Abdullah was happily part of Vajpayee government when Gujraat was being burnt under the leadership of same party And it is no wonder, if Omar Abdullah and his party goes with BJP again that too under the leadership of Narendra Modi if any such sort of power change takes place at central level . I may not be agree fully with the party Prof. Soz is associated with, but is there any other option in the state of Jammu and Kashmir ?. If looked impartially, most of the political parties in Jammu and Kashmir are B- teams of Congress . My personal opinion is that Prof. Soz was not given important position and portfolio in Congress because of his political ground in Jammu and Kashmir, but only due to his stand and clear policy in National and state politics . And Congress National Chief, Sonia Gandhi likes such people . However, there is a lobby in Jammu Kashmir with tainted image and low educational profile which is scared of his popularity and his acceptability in 10 Janpath . Most of the political observers is of the opinion that it was best time for Congress to strengthen its base in Jammu Kashmir and that is possible only if Congress high command gives him full authority to run the affairs of the party and make decisions in the coalition government in the state of which the Congress is part . Political observers say that in comparison with Ghulam Nabi Azaad, Prof. Saif-u-Din Soz is much beneficial to Congress in the state of Jammu and Kashmir . It doesn’t mean that Ghulam Nabi Azad is not loyal but his proximity with National Conference can never be beneficial for Congress in the state of Jammu and Kashmir . Azaad’s proximity with the National Conference and its leadership can be gauged with the fact that in 1996 when National Conference was in full majority in the state of Jammu and Kashmir and Congress had perhaps only one or the members in the state assembly , even then, National Conference leaderand then Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah had managed a Rajya Sabha seatfor him through his party . His friend ship with Abdullah family can be gauged with an other fact that despite being in opposition in the previous term, National Conference supported him as chief minister inthe state . In fact, this all has been going under an agreement through which Ghulam Nabi Azaad takes care of the interests of National Conference particularly Abdullah family in Delhi , and in return, Abdullah family always takes care of his personal interests in Jammu and Kashmir . Instead, Prof. Saif-u-Din Soz was expelled by National Conference from the party and it had tried all its efforts to teach him lesson but Luck favored Soz and he got better position even an equal position in the state of Jamu and Kashmir . And Soz also wants to teach a lesson to National Conference and he is doing all efforts to strengthen the Congress in the state of Jammu and Kashmir . Feeling insecure and scared of his fight back, National Conference is doing all its efforts to get Congress liberated from the clutches of Soz . NC feels that Soz is never favorable for them the way he is strengthening his party and cadres in the state with revenge full attitude . In such circumstances, Congress leadership must give him more teeth so that he can establish Congress as full political party in the state of Jammu and Kashmir . Leaving aside his other capabilities, it is fact that Prof. Soz has always been very much clear about his stand on any of the issue . For instance, despite being part of the coalition government in the state, Prof. Soz has many times said that state government has done a joke with the Panchayets and is in favor of full flagged powers to the grass root institutions and even he has been demanding the implementation of 73 and 74th amendments . Not only this, several times he spoke about the rampant corruption in the coalition government . His political approach suggests that Prof. Saif-u-Din Soz is a man of conscious in the present mainstream political brigade of Jammu and Kashmir .
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