PDP, BJP buy time to iron out creases

According to a PDP spokesperson in Srinagar, the swearing-in of PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti would take place only after the seven-day official mourning for her late father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed ends on Wednesday. 

The state had announced a seven-day official mourning when chief minister Sayeed passed away at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi on January 7.

In what was the first conciliatory move from PDP’s end, party spokesperson Mehboob Beg said, “Neither the PDP or the BJP have set any pre-conditions for the formation of the new government in the state. “Without any preconditions from either side, Mehboobaji will take oath as the chief minister anytime after the seven-day official mourning ends on Wednesday.”

The terms of engagement between the PDP and the BJP is likely to remain unchanged, which saw the coming together of just not political but ideological adversaries to form a government in the troubled state. 

“The reiteration of the terms was necessary because there had been reservations on Mehbooba’s  name both within the BJP and PDP but the leadership has clarity on the matter that Mufti Sahab’s successor has to be PDP’s choice,” said a senior BJP leader.

“The terms of alliance already worked out will continue to govern the relationship between the two parties in the next government,” the PDP spokesperson Mehboob Beg said in Srinagar indicating that knotty issues of allowing Mehbooba a full run for five years as CM and re-distribution of portfolios had been looked into and addressed.

Beg also said the PDP president would respect the people’s mandate and carry forward the agenda of development set in motion by the late chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, clearly indicating that for Mehbooba it would be an onerous task to cobble up numbers to form a government without BJP and thereafter run it efficiently. “Sonia’s visit to Mehbooba’s home alone could not help as she needed to get the National Conference also on board to keep the BJP out,” commented a senior BJP leader. 

In the 87-member state Assembly, the PDP now has 28 seats, following Mufti’s demise, BJP 25 seats, Jammu and Kashmir National Conference 15 and the Congress 12. There are seven seats held by Independents and Others.