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Ram Madhav to hold talks with Mehbooba over govt formation

“Madhav is expected to meet the PDP president tomorrow or day after. The day and time of the meeting will be finalised once the BJP leader arrives in Kashmir,” a senior PDP leader said on the condition of anonymity. 

Madhav, who played a crucial role in forging an alliance with the ideologically opposite PDP last year, is expected to convey a message from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Mehbooba on government formation.

Jammu and Kashmir was placed under Governor’s Rule on January 8, a day after death of then incumbent Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.

Initially, Mehbooba, who is tipped to be the next chief minister if PDP and BJP form the government again, refused to take oath of office during the mourning period for her father.

The PDP president then started dragging her feet on government formation saying the Centre needed to take steps for implementation of ‘Agenda of Alliance’ arrived at between the two parties.

As the stalemate between the BJP and the PDP entered second month, Governor NN Vohra has delegated more powers to Chief Secretary B R Sharma and senior IAS officer B B Vyas.

The Governor also asked all political appointees of the previous PDP-BJP government to put in their papers which saw Advocate General, Jahangir Iqbal Ganai and most members of his team resign on Friday.
Meanwhile, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah said Mehbooba should be given more time to decide on government formation in Jammu and Kashmir, which is currently under Governer’s rule following the death of her father Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, who had headed a PDP-BJP coalition government.

“One cannot say what is going to happen tomorrow; let her take time, ladies always take time, many times they take a long time,” Abdullah, who is a former chief minister of J-K, said in a session on Kashmir at the Delhi Gymkhana Club’s first ‘Literature and Ideas’ festival here.

Mehbooba refused to take oath of office during the period of mourning for her father, who died on January 7 with the state being placed under Governor’s rule the day after.

Since then, the PDP chief has put off the decision on government formation, saying the Centre needs to take steps for implementation of the ‘Agenda of Alliance’ agreed to by the two parties.

Abdullah said Mehbooba has to consider there will be elections in the state eventually. “Let us wait and give her total support; if that is given to her maybe she will do well. Why not? And then we will decide what we will do after that,” he said.

Abdullah said it was paramount to “keep the state safe and united and strengthen the nation because if one of the limbs of the nation is weak, the nation cannot survive”.

The NC leader was in conversation with former RAW chief AS Dulat, who said it was time the PDP leader took on the chief minister’s mantle.

Referring to Pakistan, he said that the Pakistani Army holds a grudge against India for aiding the formation of Bangladesh in the 1971 War.

Abdullah said notwithstanding the various groups who try to disrupt peace in India for their vested interests, it is essential to continue the dialogue with Pakistan and convert the LoC into an international border.

“We should not break the dialogue because that is the only way we can defeat these organisations,” he said.

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