Saffron party will seek time from governor today and stake their claim to form the govt
Die is cast for the coronation of Mehbooba Mufti after BJP formally put its stamp on her candidature for the post of chief minister in Jammu and Kashmir.
BJP on Friday elected Nirmal Singh as the leader of its legislature party and nominated him for the post of deputy chief minister in the new PDP-BJP alliance government to be headed Mehbooba Mufti. Singh had held this post earlier too in the Mufti Mohommad Sayeed's cabinet.
BJP legislators also extended the support to Mehbooba for the post of chief minister. Both parties however deferred their meetings with Jammu and Kashmir governor NN Vohra on Friday and decided to meet him together in couple of days and formally stake claim for the government.
Would-be chief minister Mehbooba Mufti was supposed to meet governor in Jammu this evening. Vohra was also scheduled to meet BJP leaders separately to discuss the government formation.
After the BJP meeting, it was decided that before meeting governor the leaders will meet the PDP leadership to work out modalities for the cabinet formation. Sources said both parties want to finalise the cabinet berths and thrash out other differences before stalking the claim formally.
"Coalition partners will sit together to work out all modalities to ensure the structure is in place with all its compatibilities and coordination," said Jitendra Singh, senior BJP leader and minister of state in the PMO.
Singh also refuted the reports that there was any difference with PDP before the government formation. "When you are in coalition you have to accommodate each other priorities and preference. That is precisely what we do in healthy coalition. I am sure it is going to auger well for Jammu and Kashmir, he said.
Earlier BJP legislators held a meeting in Jammu and elected Nirmal Singh as its leader and nominated him for the deputy chief minister's post in the new coalition government. Jitendra Singh and BJP's point man Ram Madhav also attended the meeting.
"The BJP has decided to extend support to Mehbooba Mufti to head the PDP-BJP government in the state," said Satpal Sharma, Jammu and Kashmir state BJP president.
An official spokesman said PDP had approached the Raj Bhavan to ascertain whether they along with BJP leaders could meet the governor togetheron Friday evening.
However PDP and BJP leaders later informed Raj Bhavan that talks were ongoing between the leaders of two parties. "And they would make a fresh request for meeting the governor when they conclude their discussions," he added.
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