Congress backs PDP's Mufti to form new J&K government

As the deadlock over government formation in Jammu and Kashmir continued, the state unit of Congress on Thursday backed Peoples Democratic Party patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed to lead the new dispensation to respect the people's verdict in the just-concluded assembly elections.

"It is a worrying situation in which certain power-hungry political groups and individuals are trying to subvert the democratic verdict of the people in the just-concluded election to the state Legislative Assembly," JKPCC president Saifuddin Soz said in a statement in Srinagar.

He further said, "a suave, experienced and forward-looking politician like Sayeed should be allowed to lead a coalition government in the state with the support of other like-minded parties or groups. That way alone the people's verdict would truly be

respected."

Soz was apparently referring to the reported meeting between BJP and National Conference leadership, a development denied by BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav.

"News about BJP leaders meeting NC leadership in Delhi is baseless," Madhav wrote on micro-blogging website Twitter.

National Conference working president and outgoing Chief Minister Omar Abdullah re-tweeted Madhav's tweet.

Earlier, Omar said he had not cancelled or postponed his visit to England where his parents Farooq Abdullah and Molie are recovering from an organ transplant surgery.

"I don't want to spoil a good story but I haven't cancelled or postponed my trip to England. I was always booked on the 27th of December," Omar said.

Soz said Jammu and Kashmir has experienced blackest periods of its recent history through armed militancy and devastating floods that left thousands of people homeless and needy.