Ram Madhav to finalise J&K government formation with Mehbooba

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Jammu: BJP president Amit Shah on Monday authorised Ram Madhav to fly to Jammu and Kashmir to finalise government formation arrangements with PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti, top party sources said.

"Amit Shah at a meeting in New Delhi on Monday authorised general secretary and party in charge of J&K affairs Ram Madhav to meet PDP president Mehbooba Mufti to finalise arrangements with her for government formation in the state", top Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sources told IANS here.

There has been a political stalemate in Jammu and Kashmir after Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti told reporters that she needed the announcement of "confidence building measures" from the central government to head a stable coalition with the BJP.

The sources said Mehbooba Mufti had declined to discuss any government formation arrangements with the BJP before the 40-day mourning period for her father, late J&K Chief Minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, ended.

Sayeed died in a New Delhi hospital on January 7 and the 40-day mourning period ended on Monday.

The state was put under governor's rule on January 8. Governor N.N. Vohra has since been running the state administration with the assistance of two retired senior IAS officers of the state cadre whom he appointed as his advisors.

Mehbooba Mufti has been seeking both political and financial initiatives from the central government to continue the alliance with the BJP which was formed last year when Sayeed took office here on March 1, 2015.

The prospects of a future PDP-BJP ruling alliance headed by Mehbooba Mufti will now depend on the outcome of her parleys with Ram Madhav.

BJP sources said the party high command was interested in continuing the alliance with the PDP and they expected flexibility from the PDP president during talks with Ram Madhav to ensure that the state is saved from being pushed into another election in less than two years.

Ram Madhav is expected to fly to Srinagar on Tuesday.

The last state assembly elections were held in the state in 2014.