Omar Abdullah awaits his fate in Srinagar

Omar Abdullah awaits his fate in Srinagar
AASHA KHOSA

NEW DELHI, JULY 8: The only National Conference Minister in the NDA-led Government - Omar Abdullah - is reportedly cooling his heels in Srinagar, awaiting the verdict of the crucial meeting of the party working committee, over its relationship with the Vajpayee Government.

Omar, Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry - would stand to lose his job in case the working committee takes a hawkish stand in response to the rejection of the autonomy resolution passed by the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly. His office maintained that the Minister was out of station for an indefinite period.

NC sources revealed that high-level consultations were on among senior party leaders, mostly members of the Sheikh Abdullah clan, before a date for the working committee meeting could be fixed. National Conference MPs said they were awaiting a call from Srinagar to fix the D-day.

Sources close to Farooq Abdullah said he was awaiting the return of his Law Minister, P L Handoo, who is away on an official trip to West Bengal, before finalising the party's stand on the autonomy issue. Handoo, a legal luminary, is believed to be the architect of all the constitutional and legal claims made by the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly on the autonomy issue, and is also a confidante of Abdullah.

Sources said the hawks in the party would press for the NC's severing of ties with the NDA-led coalition. However, many senior leaders have counselled for avoiding a direct confrontation with the Centre at this stage. They have been asserting that the NC could decide to place the response of the Centre on its resolution before the state legislature. The moderates have also been asking the working committee not to touch the issue of Omar Abdullah's continuation in the Central Cabinet. "The decision of NC becoming a part of the NDA was never the party's - Omar is in the Cabinet not because the party wished so but due to a personal equation that Farooq Abdullah shares with Home Minister L K Advani and Prime Minister Vajpayee," a senior member of the party working committee told The Indian Express. He said there was no need for the working committee to dwell on this issue.

However, sources close to Omar said he has been camping in Srinagar to re-establish his links with the party and to show that he "cares for the sentiments of partymen".