PDP calls core group meeting

Amid continuing political impasse in Jammu and Kashmir, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti has called a crucial party meeting on Sunday which is expected to deliberate on the issue of future alliance with the BJP.

Mehbooba, who till now had refused to deliberate over the issue after the death of her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on January 7, has invited the extended core group of the party at her Fairview residence in Srinagar, sources said.

“The PDP chief has invited all three MPs of the party, former ministers, and the senior party office bearers to discuss the issue of whether to continue its alliance with the right-wing BJP or not,” they said.

As the PDP and the BJP, which ruled the state in an alliance from March 1, 2015 till Mufti’s death, did not stake claim for fresh government formation, the state was put under Governor’s rule on January 8.

A senior PDP leader said there was expectation that during the meeting, uncertainty over government formation will be discussed threadbare. “We expect to reach to some conclusion during the meeting as after Mufti sahib’s death, we all were mourning and couldn’t talk about government formation,” he said.

However, the leader declined to comment when asked whether the PDP will continue its alliance with the saffron party.

“We will review how much the PDP has achieved while being in alliance with the BJP for the last almost a year. There is also a strong line of thinking in the PDP that the alliance with the BJP has only proved detrimental to its interests and halted its growth, especially in the Kashmir Valley. We will discuss all these issues,” he revealed.

Mufti loyalist and PDP leader Nayeen Akhtar said, “Our governance agenda with BJP included making smart cities, bringing the power projects presently under NHPC back and see earliest completion of other development projects so that Mufti Sahib’s dream of making Jammu and Kashmir the fastest-growing state in the entire country is realised.”
“We will analyse how much that has been achieved and whether we can work smoothly on the governance agenda in future,” he told reporters.

Sources within the party said that PDP leadership wants clear-cut assurances from the BJP leadership on the State’s “reasonable needs” as it feels the latter has only gone back on certain commitments made in their “Agenda of Alliance”.

Meanwhile, reacting to Akhtar’s assertions over the implementation of the “Agenda of Alliance”, BJP state president Sat Sharma termed it contradictory. “Mr Akhtar issued two contradictory statements in the past three days. We take it as his personal opinion and not the stand of the PDP,” he told reporters.

“We are yet to meet and unless officially both the parties sit together and finalise the future strategy,” Sharma said.