J&K govt formation: PDP hints alliance with BJP on, Mehbooba Mufti to take final call

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) core group authorised party president Mehbooba Mufti to take a call on government formation with BJP in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday.

Jammu/Srinagar: After five hours of deliberations the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) core group on Sunday unanimously authorised its president Mehbooba Mufti to take the call on government-formation in Jammu and Kashmir and continuation of its alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). 

"The party deliberated on our score-card during the last 10 months of the PDP-BJP coalition rule and unanimously authorised PDP president Mehbooba Mufti to take a final call on the future of our alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party," senior PDP leader Naeem Akhtar told reporters here after a marathon party meeting.

The party reposed complete trust in Mehbooba Mufti during the four-hour meeting, the former education minister said.

According to media reports, the PDP - which had been ruling the state for the last 10 months in alliance with the BJP - said that the alliance with BJP will continue in Jammu and Kashmir, but there is no deadline on government formation.    

Senior party leaders and functionaries, including Lok Sabha members and former ministers, were present at the meeting at 'Fair View', the chief minister's official residence on the high-security Gupkar Road here.

This was the first political meeting presided over by PDP president Mehbooba Mufti after the death of her father and chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on January 7 at All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi.

The development comes amid the uncertainty over government formation in the state, which is currently under President's Rule following the death of chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on January 7.

Meanwhile, National Conference patron Farooq Abdullah today called for dissolution of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly and holding of fresh elections if PDP and BJP fail to form a government, after he retracted his yesterday's statement that his party would think over if a proposal to form the government comes from the saffron party.

"If they (PDP and BJP) cannot solve the problems of the people, the assembly must be dissolved and hold fresh elections held," Abdullah told reporters on the sidelines of a
private function.

Asked to comment on his yesterday's statement that his party's "doors were open" if BJP the leadership approached him to form the government in the state, he said, he had never said his party was going with the BJP.