Srinagar:
National Conference President Dr Farooq Abdullah on Thursday asked his younger brother Dr Mustafa Kamal to quit the party posts of Additional General Secretary and the Chief Spokesman hours after the latter's statement on Rahul Gandhi.
Dr Kamal had reportedly said yesterday that Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi "has no role in running the Jammu and Kashmir government." His statement came in response to a remark by Congress state chief Saif-ud-Din Soz, who quoted Rahul Gandhi as saying that he was not happy with the governance in Jammu and Kashmir.
Dr Farooq Abdullah said he had to take this "difficult decision" because Dr Mustafa Kamal had been making certain statements which were not in tandem with the policies of the National Conference and were against the 'coalition dharma.'
"Kamal had been advised to exercise restraint and follow the party policy line on all issues, particularly those pertaining to the policies of the coalition government, relationship with the Congress party, AFSPA and the role of the Army," PTI quoted him as saying.
Dr Abdullah also said that Jammu and Kashmir National Conference is committed to the National Conference-Congress coalition government. "The NC-Congress coalition government has been functioning smoothly and any indiscipline in this regard within our party will not be tolerated," he added.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had also reacted to Mr Soz's statement saying "I don't know whether Soz is authorised to speak on behalf of Rahul Gandhi. But most certainly I'm not. I'm sure if Rahul has certain feelings regarding governance he will make them known to me. All I can say is that in all the years I've known Rahul, he hasn't said anything regarding the way governance has been functioning here. And if he has spoken to Soz and if he is authorised to speak on Rahul's behalf, then I really have nothing more to say beyond that."
Dr Kamal had earlier embarrassed the government with his suggestion that the Army was behind some instances of violence, including grenade attacks. He later retracted the statement.
"This is exactly what I don't need," Mr Omar Abdullah had told NTDV, pointing out that Dr Kamal was not just a senior party member but also his father's brother, which put him in an "extremely awkward position".
"I can't tell you the number of times I have requested my father to please tell Dr Mustafa Kamal to think twice before he issues statement," the Chief Minister had said. "I don't think he needs to start issuing statements about the Army or about my alliance partners. It's not his mandate and it does make life very difficult for me," he said.
(with inputs from PTI)