Political Correspondent
JAMMU: People of Jammu province may say anything about BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh. They may accuse him of playing pro-Kashmir role and say that he and other BJP ministers and legislators have let down and betrayed Jammu. India is a democratic polity and every Indian citizen has the right to express his view subject to the condition that he exercises the right to speech strictly as per what lays enshrined in Article 19 of the Indian Constitution. The general perception in Jammu is that Nirmal Singh and other BJP ministers have not come up to the expectations of its core constituency that brought the BJP into power in the Muslim majority J and K State.
However, Patron of the PDP and J and K Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed is very pleased with Nirmal Singh, his capabilities and abilities, his performance and his style of functioning. He has put all the eggs in the Nirmal Singh’s basket fully convinced that the Deputy Chief Minister would help him not only deliver and handle controversial and sensitive issues, but also implement the agenda of alliance which talks about national reconciliation, Pakistan, Hurriyat Conference, external and internal stakeholders, rehabilitation of the flood victims and so on. The Chief Minister has full faith in Nirmal Singh, which should be a great source of satisfaction for the BJP leader. Significantly, Nirmal Singh also holds the Chief Minister in highest esteem. He calls him a “great visionary” and publicly says that the Chief Minister “likes the BJP ministers”.So, it is only natural that both are reciprocating each other’s gestures and working in unison.
That the Chief Minister has complete confidence in Nirmal Singh can be seen from the fact that the former agreed to appoint him as Chairman of the powerful PDP-BJP Coordination Committee and that he also appointed him Chairman of the Committee which is charged with the responsibility of implementing the agenda of alliance in letter and sprit. Significantly, the people of Jammu province do not appreciate the agenda of alliance. For many, it is nothing but a new “charter of bondage”.
That the Chief Minister has full faith in Nirmal Singh could also be seen from the fact that he on May 18th appointed the latter as head of the five-member Cabinet Sub-Committee to look into the objections against the new recruitment policy and submit its recommendations to the government before 1st June, 2015. Three of the five members of the Cabinet Sub-Committee are from the BJP. The new recruitment policy is being criticised by all since the day it was made public. The Congress, the NC, the Panthers Party, the BSP, the Gujjars and Bakerwals and other Scheduled Tribe communities, Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and many others have described the new recruitment policy as “bad and anti-people” and demanded its immediate withdrawal. The Chief Minister obviously believes that Nirmal Singh would come out with a report that ends the ongoing controversy over the new recruitment policy. Earlier, Education Minister and PDP leader Naeem Akhtar had declared that the recruitment policy would not be withdrawn and Finance Minister and another PDP leader Haseen Brabu had commended it.
Not only this, the Chief Minister has also appointed Nirmal Singh as head of the committee whose duty it is to review the rights of West Pakistan refugees. This was disclosed here in Jammu on Wednesday by none other than State BJP president and MP Jugal Kishore Sharma. ”A committee headed by Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh has been constituted to review the rights of west Pakistan refugees and the citizenship rights will soon be granted to them by amending the Constitution, ” he told reporters on the sideline of a party function.
With all this elation, the Dy CM has no reason to be happy, given the resentment brewing up against the saffron in once BJP stronghold of Jammu.
