Barely seven months before the scheduled transfer of power from People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to Congress in Jammu and Kashmir, the ruling coalition partners were at loggerheads once again.The trouble erupted between Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and Deputy Chief Minister Mangat Ram Sharma during a Cabinet meeting today, when the issue of regularisation of daily wagers in the forest department was being discussed. Sayeed objected to the way Sharma spoke to the Chief Secretary. Sharma, who was already annoyed over the continuance of some police officers at particular places, had heated exchanges with the Chief Minister and later walked out of the meeting.This is the third time in less than three months when fissures have appeared within the ruling coalition. Though Sharma has left for Delhi to apprise the party high command of the situation, political observers feel that there is no threat to the coalition as none of them is prepared to lose power in the state.‘‘In an alliance government, from time to time, some small issues keep on emanating. I am going to Delhi and will take up all these issues with the high command,’’ said Sharma, en route the airport.According to sources, the altercation began when Sharma, in the middle of the meeting, asked about the regularisation of forest department’s daily wagers in Jammu region. His argument was that why the order regularising daily wagers appointed during the same period in Kashmir Valley was being applied to Jammu.However, the issue went out of hand when Sharma asked Chief Secretary S.S. Bloeria, while he was tickmarking the agenda, ‘‘kar do ji’’ (do it). Sayeed objected to this and said that Sharma should have instead asked ‘‘kar deejiye’’. Angry over the Chief Minister’s snub in front of his Cabinet colleagues, Sharma shouted back asking him not to teach him (how to speak). In a fit of anger, Sharma threw the file and walked out off the meeting, despite some ministers persuading him to stay. ‘‘It was a personal problem,’’ said Minister for Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution, Taj Mohi-ud-Din. Sources said that earlier at the meeting, the Chief Minister had snubbed Sharma when the latter had tried to raise the issue of transfer of a police officer.Meanwhile, according to sources, Sayeed called up Congress president Sonia Gandhi and narrated the issue. Sayeed is said to have conveyed to Gandhi that some people were trying to create an ugly situation when both Congress and PDP are riding high over the opening of Uri-Muzaffarabad road and peace talks with Pakistan.
