BJP seeks time to respond to Mehbooba’s conditions

Uncertainty over formation of the Government in Jammu and Kashmir continues as Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti today put the onus on alliance partner BJP.

A of the meeting with the Governor, former deputy chief minister and BJP leader Nirmal Singh on Tuesday held a meeting with Mehbooba. “J&K faces numerous challenges and we need full support from the Government of India to tackle the situation”, she added. “Many even within the BJP were skeptical about it at that time, but he formed government with them and he had to do lot of fire fighting also to stitch this alliance”, she said.

“Muftisaheb has left a void in Kashmir, I have neither the goodwill nor the vision nor the experience of my father…”

This is the second core group meeting in past 24 hours. The party has made it conditional with appropriate movement towards implementation of feasible and tangible components in the “Agenda of Alliance” that PDP considers sacrosanct. “This continued theatre of absurdity by PDP is not an alternative to the constitutional and political responsibilities of the largest political party in the Legislative Assembly and calls into question PDP’s seriousness in governing the state beyond its own partisan rhetoric and interests”, he said.

“Governor Vohra wanted to know where we are on the govt formation”.

Mehbooba Mufti who spoke with the media later said that the centre should initiate Confidence Building Measures specific to Jammu and Kashmir. “We need the Centre to be fully with us”, the PDP chief said.

A source close to Mehbooba told The Telegraph today: “She has been waiting for a response a long time and obviously there is a sense of disappointment nobody has responded, not even with a phone call”. He had headed an alliance of his PDP and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

After the much-awaited meeting of PDP Legislature Party, which was seen with lot of expectations, party leader Naeem Akhtar (rpt) Naeem Akhtar only said that Mehbooba had been authorised to convey its point of view on government formation to the Governor.

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti along with party senior Vice-President, Muzaffar Hussain Beigh and Jammu and Kashmir Finance Minister, Haseeb Drabu (R) during a party meeting at Mufti residence in Srinagar.

The BJP leader met the PDP chief after returning from Delhi where he along with two other colleagues held consultations with party chief Amit Shah on the way forward. Vohra has called the PDP chief as well as the state BJP chief Sat Pal Sharma for a meeting on Tuesday for the objective, CNN-IBN reported.

Koul said it was up to the PDP to stake a claim for the government and the BJP would follow in its footsteps. She also hinted that the PDP-BJP alliance still stands as there are no differences between the two parties.