*Swearing-in ceremony likely on March 1
Neeraj Rohmetra
Jammu, Feb 24: In a paradigm shift for politics in Jammu and Kashmir, PDP and BJP have agreed to cobble an alliance for Government formation in the State, which is likely to be sworn-in on March 1 here.
Political sources told EXCELSIOR, “PDP patron, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who is set to be the Chief Minister would also be meeting Prime Minister, Narendra Modi on Friday (Feb 27) at latter’s residence, after which the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) between both the parties will be made public”. Mr Mufti will also use the occasion for extending a formal invitation to the Prime Minister for attending the swearing-in ceremony.
Sources also asserted, “there were sufficient indications that Prime Minister would himself attend the oath taking ceremony of the new Chief Minister. This would be first meeting between the PDP patron and the Prime Minister, ever since discussions over Government formation began between the two political allies”.
“As a sequel to the meeting, both BJP and PDP would elect the chief of Legislature party. While PDP will elect Mufti Mohammad Sayeed as their chief, BJP will elect Nirmal Singh, who is also tipped to the next Deputy Chief Minister of the State. Subsequently, both parties will have a joint meeting along with their allies (People’s Conference Legislators and Independents) and elect Mufti Sayeed as their joint Legislature party leader paving way for his taking over as the next Chief Minister of the State”, sources remarked.
Sources said, “this would be the second innings of 78 year old Mufti Mohammad Sayeed as Chief Minister of the State. Sayeed had earlier headed a Coalition Government with Congress for three years from 2002”, adding, “it would also be for the first time that BJP would become part of any political dispensation in the State”. The swearing-in ceremony, which is likely to be held on Sunday (March 1), is also likely to be attended by several Union Cabinet Ministers.
PDP patron, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who is all set to take over the reins of Government while talking to EXCELSIOR said, “I am happy that the two parties have arrived at consensus of crucial issues and the CMP would also be made public soon”.
“Our party chief, Mehbooba and BJP party chief, Amit Shah have sorted out all issues and given final shape to the CMP. I am looking forward to my meeting with Prime Minister, which is likely to be held shortly”, he added.
Over the issue of portfolio distribution between the two political partners, sources said, “though some spadework has been done regarding this, the final decision will be taken during the meeting of Mufti with Prime Minister. However, since Mufti Sayeed is to have full six year term, its alliance partner BJP would be given some important portfolios”.
Earlier in the day, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti and BJP President Amit Shah today formally announced that they were joining hands to form the new political dispensation in the State and gave final touch to the Common Minimum Program (CMP). The 45 minutes long meeting, which was held at the residence of latter also attended by BJP point man, Ram Madhav and PDP MP Muzaffar Hussain Baig.
After the meeting, both the party chiefs appeared before media and made the announcement about the cobbling up of alliance.
“After several round of talks on different issues, there is near consensus on a CMP and very soon the people of J-K will have a popular alliance Government of PDP and BJP,” Shah said, adding, “the date and time of the Government formation will be announced after Mufti meets Modi.”
“Both the parties will also release the contents of CMP after the meeting, which is likely to be held shortly,” he said, adding, “but I am happy that all obstacles in Government formation have almost been removed,” he said.
Without identifying the contentious issues between the two parties, Mehbooba said that the two parties have “fortunately” arrived at a consensus on crucial issues.
Terming the CMP as an “agenda for alliance”, she said the coalition was not for “power sharing” but about winning the hearts and minds of the people in the State. She termed her alliance different from other alliances of the past and said that “for the first time, the interests of the people of the State as well as national interest has been kept in mind”.
Referring to history, the PDP chief remarked, “earlier there have been accords like Sheikh – Indira Accord, Farooq-Rajiv Accord but this alliance has been formulated with a different perspective, while keeping national interests in mind”.
“The alliance provides an opportunity to end “alienation” of the people of the State from the rest of the country by giving them a development-oriented and corruption-free administration. The key factors in the formulation of the alliance were development, aspiration, prosperity and peace for the people of J-K”, she maintained.
“I am happy that the two parties have adopted a middle path from which both, the State as well as the country, will benefit,” Mehbooba said.
She was accompanied by party MP Muzzafar Hussain Baig to Shah’s residence. While PDP handed over a bouquet to Shah, the BJP chief, in return, presented a shawl to Mehbooba.
While greeting Shah, Baig said in a lighter vein that, “I am coming from a State where swine flu is on the rise.”
Senior BJP leader, Nirmal Singh, who is likely to become Deputy Chief Minister while expressing happiness over the political developments said, “the top leadership of both parties has been able to iron out the differences and the new political dispensation will be in place soon”.
This is the first time that the State has been without an elected Government for this long after results for the State Assembly were announced on December 23. The verdict was highly -fractured with PDP emerging as the single-largest with 28 MLAs followed by BJP with 25 legislators. National Conference (NC) bagged 15 while Congress won 12 seats.
Sources also pointed out, “if the Government is formed before the Legislative Council elections on March 2, the PDP-BJP combine would have added advantage of two votes as the Government can nominate two women to the Assembly, who can cast vote in the Council elections for the Kashmir seat”.
Both parties have maintained that all issues, including differences over the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and Article 370, have been sorted.
Both parties have kept under wraps the details of the CMP, particularly with respect to Article 370 and AFSPA — the two issues over which they have completely opposite views.
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