Governor gives 1 day to PDP, BJP to decide on government formation

Seeking to put an end to uncertainty, Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra has asked People’s Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti and state Bharatiya Janata Party chief Sat Pal Sharma to clarify their stand on the government formation on Tuesday.

Vohra has called Mehbooba and Sharma for separate meetings on Tuesday to discuss the issue of government formation in the state which is under governor’s rule since January 8, a day after then chief minister Mufti Sayeed passed away.

“Yes, the governor has called her (Mehbooba Mufti) for a meeting tomorrow,” PDP spokesman Naeem Akhter said.

According to sources, the governor sent a communication by fax to the PDP chief on Sunday evening for holding consultations.

Mehbooba will meet the Governor in the afternoon on Tuesday after which Sharma will meet him.

The governor's missive to the leaders of the two parties, which had run a coalition government for 10 months till January 7, came after the PDP chief talked tough with regard to continuance of alliance with the BJP on Sunday.

Mehbooba, who is seen as a successor to her father as chief minister, had said she will take a call after ‘reassessing’ whether ally BJP’s government at the Centre would take substantive steps in a ‘set timeframe’ to address the ‘core’ political and economic issues of the state.

In the wake of these developments, the state BJP’s core group met in Jammu and said it will hold consultations with central leadership on government formation before meeting the governor.

After the meeting, which discussed Mehbooba’s statement, BJP leaders said there was ‘no concrete’ demand or condition from the PDP but their party was committed to the implementation of ‘Agenda of Alliance’ and address any issues that the ally may have.

“Today, we have decided in the core group meeting that our 2-3 members will go to Delhi and discuss the issues with the central leadership,” Sharma said.

“We will meet him (governor) and today’s meeting was regarding our stand on the issue of the formation of government,” he told reporters.

He said if any issue is raised by the PDP, it can be resolved.

“In the past ten months, the development which has taken place was not seen in the past 60 years. Agenda of Alliance is the vision of Narendra Modi and Mufti Mohammed Sayeed to take Jammu and Kashmir forward. If you think the development was slow, then we will make sure that it is speeded up,” he said.

Asked if the BJP was ready for fresh polls, Sharma said ‘it would be premature to speak about the issue’.

The PDP, with 27 MLAs in the 87-member assembly and the BJP, with 25 legislators, ran a coalition government headed by Sayeed for 10 months before his demise on January 7.

On reports that the PDP has made certain demands like transfer of power projects to the state, the state BJP chief said, “The PDP might have said it but we have not received anything from them in writing...We will discuss with the Centre and if any such issue comes up, we will tell you for sure.”

To queries about Mehbooba’s concerns and demands on the issue of implementation of Agenda of Alliance, he said, “No condition has come to us, nobody has discussed anything with us till now. If we get anything in concrete, we will discuss it. Our condition is only the Agenda of Alliance. We will take it forward with full spirit and implement it in the six years’ period and make sure that we go a step further then what is written in this Agenda of Alliance.”

BJP MP from Jammu Jugal Kishore Sharma said any further step would be taken after discussions between the state and the central leaderships.

Asked how long the government formation process could take, he said ‘nothing can be said in this regard’.

Sharma said the party yesterday received a letter from the governor, in which he invited them for a meeting at 6 pm on Tuesday.

The governor’s consultations with the PDP and the BJP are seen as last ditch efforts to avoid snap assembly polls in the state as the regional party has toughened its stand.

At a four-hour long meeting with party leaders on Sunday, Mehbooba had said she will take a call on government formation as and when she is convinced that the Modi government would take ‘substantive’ steps within a ‘set timeframe’ to address the ‘core’ political and economic issues of the state.

“The government of India shall have to take substantive measures towards implementation of the PDP-BJP Agenda of Alliance in the interest of peace and stability in Jammu and Kashmir and for this the PDP needs a set timeframe to be worked out,” she had said.

Meanwhile, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah said if the PDP is not ready to form the government, fresh elections should be held.

“If the PDP is not ready to form the government, then the only option is to call for fresh polls. No other party is ready to form a government with them and if the PDP also wants the same, then it is time they call for fresh polls. This is what should be done in a democracy,” he said.

“We have only 15 MLAs and are in no capacity to form a government,” Abdullah said.

Image: PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, along with the party's senior vice president and MP Muzaffar Hussain Beigh, during a crucial party meeting on goverment formation at her residence in Srinagar on Sunday. Photograph: PTI Photo