PDP-BJP govt likely by month-end

After more than a month long stalemate, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have apparently reached an agreement on formation of a new government in Jammu and Kashmir before February-end.

Sources told Deccan Herald: “Under the agreement reached between the two parties, the PDP will get the chief minister's post while a BJP leader will be the deputy chief minister. All the contentious issues between the two potential allies like Article 370, the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and the Uniform Civil Code, have been nearly  resolved and most probably the new government will be in place before the end of this month.”

“There are issues on which common understanding is yet to be  reached. Once this is done, we will put a government in place soon,” confirmed BJP general secretary Ram Madhav, who is involved in the negotiations.

It may be through around the time the Budget session of Parliament starts on February 23, said party sources.

Ram Madhav told reporters in Delhi that efforts to finalise a common minimum programme (CMP) were under way.

Once complete, PDP patriarch Mufti Mohammad Sayeed will meet Prime Minister  Narendra Modi.

Sources said the BJP has nominated its state president Jugal Kishor Sharma to hold talks with the PDP before a formal announcement on government formation is made jointly by the two parties.

“The team would have no member from outside the state, but MP and Minister of State in Prime Minister’s Office Jitender Singh would be on the committee,” they said.

BJP senior leader and MLA elect, Nirmal Singh,  is tipped to be the deputy chief minister in the new government.

He told reporters in Jammu, “We want an inclusive government, where we can take every one along and our motto is development of the state.”

He downplayed Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s comments post Delhi poll results. “That was sage advice and nothing serious should be read into it,” Singh added. However, sources said Mufti, who is likely to be the next CM, will Modi in New Delhi to finalise the CMP before a formal announcement is made.

The Assembly polls in J&K threw up a fractured verdict with PDP emerging as the single largest party with 28 seats but well short of the 44 mark, followed by BJP which bagged 25 seats. National Conference had to be content with 15 seats while Congress could only manage 12 seats. Seven seats went to independents and others.

Governor's rule was imposed on the state on January 9, a day after Omar Abdullah asked Governor N N Vohra to relieve him of the duties of caretaker chief minister.