Will Form Government in Jammu And Kashmir, says BJP After Internal Meet

Jammu: The BJP will form government with the PDP in Jammu and Kashmir, with PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti at its helm, the party declared today. The government, the party said, will be formed on the basis of the Agenda of Alliance, which will remain unchanged.  

The decision was taken by the BJP legislature party in Jammu today -  a day after PDP elected Ms Mufti as the head of its legislature party and thereby the chief ministerial candidate.

The meeting -- attended by party general secretary Ram Madhav and during which Nirmal Singh was also elected the leader of the BJP legislature party -- was held hours before the two allies were expected to meet Jammu and Kashmir Governor NN Vohra.

But PDP said they would first meet the BJP leaders and plan government formation and only then meet the Governor together to stake claim.

The state is currently under Governor's Rule. The impasse in the government formation in the state -- in place since the death of then Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in January -- was finally resolved last week following Ms Mufti's meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The PDP chief had refused to succeed her father as the chief minister, demanding that the BJP honour the conditions laid down in the Agenda of Alliance, a blueprint crafted when the two parties decided on co-governing the state. But her party suggested that the BJP was not delivering on the commitments required from the union government.

While the BJP refused to give anything in writing, senior leaders, including finance minister Arun Jaitley, provided repeated assurances that the Centre's promises to Jammu and Kashmir will be kept.

On Wednesday, after a 25-minute meeting with the Prime Minister on Wednesday, Ms Mufti said, "When you meet the Prime Minister then the ways of sorting out problems becomes more clear".

The change in Ms Mufti's stance was said to have come after the pressure mounted by her lawmakers, who were keen on government formation. Her political rival Omar Abdullah, who had met the Governor and demanded fresh elections if the PDP and BJP stalemate was not resolved, had said Ms Mufti was trying to avert a split in her party.