All is well within party: CM’s Advisor

Srinagar, Oct 27: Emotional scenes and angry slogans marked the day at the National Conference (NC) headquarters on Tuesday, as the party’s cabinet expansion triggered raw displays of disappointment that went well beyond formal statements.

The sharpest reaction came from Anantnag West MLA Abdul Majeed Larmi, who broke down in tears after missing out on a Cabinet berth.

Speaking to reporters through his distress, Larmi said he accepted the leadership’s decision but could not hide his sense of loss. “I also deserved a ministerial berth. But I felt disappointed because I was a party man and an old member. However, as it was the leadership’s decision, I am a soldier of the party, and such moments will come again,” he said, his voice betraying the hurt behind the words.

At Nawa-e-Subah, the party headquarters in Srinagar, the mood was angrier. Supporters of Eidgah MLA Mubarak Gul gathered soon after the names of the four new ministers became public and raised slogans in his favour, directing their anger at the party leadership for overlooking their representative.

“Our constituency has been ignored for the last four decades. This government has failed in the last two years, and now it has failed in selecting candidates for ministerial berths as well,” the protesters said.

They said they had waited forty years for a ministerial berth for their representative and had faced disappointment repeatedly. The supporters issued a two-day ultimatum to the government to reconsider its decision, warning that if anything happened to Mubarak Gul following the decision, the Omar Abdullah-led government would be solely responsible. “Until the government takes a favourable decision for our representative, we will continue to protest,” they said.

The emotional weight of the day stood in contrast to the official line. Chief Minister’s Advisor Nasir Aslam Wani acknowledged that feelings were running high but insisted there was no deeper crisis within the party. “We have many MLAs, and there may be some lingering resentment among them, but there is nothing of that sort. They have every right to express their displeasure within the party,” he said.

He sought to place the disappointment in perspective. “Every MLA aspires to become a Minister, but the limited number of available Cabinet positions makes it impossible to accommodate everyone. Naturally, people in every constituency want their MLA to become a minister, but it is not possible to accommodate everyone,” Wani said.

Wani said the party leadership had moved to address the situation, stating that Farooq Abdullah had nominated Mubarak Gul as the party’s general secretary.

For the National Conference, the day’s scenes underlined a difficult truth: behind every cabinet list lies a longer list of those left waiting, and behind every official statement of unity, there are supporters and leaders whose disappointment does not fade quickly.