Amid speculation on government formation in Jammu and Kashmir, Peoples Democratic Party patron Mufti Mohammed Sayeed said on Saturday, "track two" dialogue with BJP is in progress.
Amid speculation on government formation in Jammu and Kashmir, Peoples Democratic Party patron Mufti Mohammed Sayeed said on Saturday, "track two" dialogue with BJP is in progress.
"Track two dialogue with BJP over the formation of government in Jammu and Kashmir is in progress," the former chief minister said while addressing party leaders here. Sayeed said that once he dialogue gets some direction, a structured dialogue with BJP would be initiated.
"Once the track two dialogue gets some direction, a structure dialogue of the track one dialogue on the formation of a common minimum programme (CMP) will be initiated," he said. The PDP patron said that his party is not "power hungry" and in no way resorts to the "sell-out" of its core ideology. "PDP has its conditions and there will be no sell-out of our core ideology including the time bound revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and initiation of dialogue with Pakistan," he said.
Sayeed said that the party would want a special package for the people of Jammu and Kashmir, especially the youth, who are facing problems due to unemployment. He said that PDP would also demand the transfer of NHPC-run power projects in the state to the government of Jammu and Kashmir. Sayeed said that the state was going through a critical phase and people need a strong and stable government that can deliver on the promises made to them during the Assembly elections.
Sayeed said that while Prime Minister Narendra Modi got a clear mandate to form the government at the Centre, the mandate of the people of J&K should be honoured as it is a Muslim majority state. "Jammu and Kashmir is a Muslim majority state and the Centre must respect the mandate of the people in the state," he said. The PDP patron said that a similar political crisis had emerged in 2002 when the party forged an alliance with the Congress to run the government in the state.
Sayeed said that the previous NDA government-led by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had appreciated the policies of the party and had supported them to restore normalcy in the state. Earlier, the party unanimously re-elected MP Mehbooba Mufti as the party president for a tenure of three years. The results of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections on December 23 last year threw up a hung Assembly with PDP emerging as the single largest party bagging 28 seats in the 87-member House.
BJP came second with 25 seats while National Conference bagged 15 seats followed by Congress with 12 seats and others winning seven seats. Governor's rule was imposed in the state on January 8, a day after former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah asked Governor NN Vohra to relieve him of the caretaker responsibilities with immediate effect. No party or combination of parties has staked claim for government formation in the state so far.
Meanwhile, senior PDP leader and MLA from Rajpura in South Kashmir, Haseeb Drabu, held a meeting with Vohra last evening to inform him about the status of ongoing dialogue between the PDP and BJP.
"During his 45-minutes meeting with the Governor, Drabu informed him about the broad pattern of the PDP-BJP parleys held so far," an official Raj Bhavan spokesman said. "The PDP leader informed the Governor about the understanding reached between the two parties for the upcoming elections to the Rajya Sabha and the likely time frame presently envisaged for further negotiations and conclusion of understandings," he said.
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