India, Feb. 3 -- The differences between the coalition partners - the National Conference (NC) and the Congress - have deepened further, with the strain now spilling into the open. In what is being seen as a deliberate political message rather than a scheduling coincidence, the Congress Party deputed only one of its six MLAs to attend the coalition meeting chaired by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah at his official residence this evening.

The meeting, convened at Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's Jammu residence, virtually turned into a show of alliance discomfort, with the Congress making a pointed political statement by deputing only one of its six MLAs - chief whip Nizamuddin Bhat - while five others, including PCC president Tariq Hamid Karr...