Amarnath land transfer row puts Congress in a bind

FULL STOP: BJP's bandh paralysed life in Jammu and national highways were blocked.

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New Delhi: The Governor's office on Monday formally revoked the order seeking forestland for the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board that had led to violent protests in the Valley.

However, Congress Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad's troubles are far from over as the Governor NN Vohra has asked him to prove his majority by July 7, even as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took the issue to the streets of Jammu.

The BJP called for a bandh that paralysed life with the national highways to Pathankot and Srinagar blocked completely.

Facing the brunt of the attack by the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bajrang Dal and the BJP were the offices of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), the Congress and even the Governor. The police arrested 70 BJP workers for disrupting traffic.

The Amarnath row has brought the state to the brink of a dangerous regional and vote bank politics while the PDP, National Conference have openly catered to their Kashmir votebank.

And now it's the BJP, which is tapping the sentiment in Jammu region.

Azad has agreed for a floor test with Union Water Resources Minister and J&K Pradesh Congress Chief Saifuddin Soz said, "I am confident that it will be done democratically and we shall prove the numbers."

But even as the Congress struggles for survival, the story has moved beyond the numbers and the land row could be another flashpoint in the coming Assembly and General Elections.

"The government has given a communal colour to all issues it has taken up and it cannot take action against these disruptive forces. We will take up this issue," BJP's prime ministerial candidate and Leader of Opposition LK Advani said.

Clearly, its a balancing act between Jammu and Kashmir that's boomeranged on the government and in the coming Assembly polls, its clear the SASB controversy will not make the Congress any popular in Jammu.

(With inputs from Pawan Bali and Mufti Islah)