Mehbooba, others offer “fateha” to Mufti

Beigh was in the Jammu to attend a programme held at party headquarters in the afternoon in connection with the 40th day of the death of former Chief Minister and party patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.

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. PDP’s alliance with BJP has not broken.

When attention was drawn to the demand by PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti that the central BJP government should announce CBMs before any initiative could be taken to form the government, he claimed, “She (Mehbooba) has never said anything like CBMs”.

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.

The PDP chief was accompanied to her father’s grave at the Dara Shikoh park in south Kashmir’s Bijbehara town by her mother Gulshan Ara, brother Tasaduq Mufti, sister Rubiaya Sayeed and other members of the family as well as senior party leaders. Insiders in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) say the alliance could take office before the end of February.

She had also made it clear that she will not form the government with BJP if the Modi dispensation does not create a “conducive atmosphere” by committing CBMs for the state. “We don’t want government formation for power but for welfare of people of the State”, Baig said. This in turn fuelled speculation that she may be planning to dump the BJP and embrace the Congress. The BJP leader insisted that Mehbooba Mufti took her own time because she was in mourning.

Adopting a reconciliatory tone after weeks of tough-talk, PDP on Monday said that it has not demanded any confidence-building measures (CBMs) from its ally BJP as a pre-condition for government formation which will take “some time”.

Stressing on the implementation of the Agenda of Alliance, he said: “There is no time frame so that it can be given in writing”.

The state was put under governor’s rule on January 8.

He alleged that Section 92 of the Constitution could not be used as a ploy by the Centre to impose a proxy rule through the Governor, especially in a situation when the government formation in the State seemed almost impossible.