Only time can tell when new govt will be formed: Mehbooba

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday dropped enough hints that her party would not hesitate to discontinue its alliance with the BJP if civilian killings and encounters continued in Jammu and Kashmir.

“Chair (power) is not our destination. If chair can bring peace and we could fulfil dream of Mufti (Mohammad Sayeed) Sahab, for which he took such a bold decision and if the chair can help in brining relief to people and if Jammu and Kashmir can become a bridge of peace between India and Pakistan then sitting on chair can be worth,” she said while addressing workers at the membership drive function here.

But, she said, if killings and encounters don’t stop “then it is not worth to sit on the chair.”
“In such a scenario my inheritance is my party which is enough for me,” Mehbooba said amid applause from the party workers who had gathered here for the membership drive programme for Srinagar district.

Later, when reporters asked her about the meeting on government formation with the BJP nationalGeneral Secretary Ram Madhav, the PDP chief said, “I think that is something that only time can tell.”

“For the last one and half months, I am hearing that why don’t I take up the chair (of chief minister) left behind by my father. Chair and power are not the legacy of my father. Mufti Sahab’s legacy is so huge that it can’t be replaced by the chair,” she added.

Last week Madhav, after meeting Mehbooba in Srinagar had said that “both parties were positive” on continuing with the alliance. There were speculations that Mehbooba is meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah in Delhi this week before a formal announcement would be made over the formation of the new government.

However, Mehbooba, who attended her first public function today after Mufti’s death on January 7, said her visit to Delhi was only related to her duties as a Lok Sabha member.