Srinagar: In a meeting that is being seen aspolitically significant, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Sunday visited PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti here to offer condolences on the demise of her father and former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.
Gandhi, who arrived from Delhi, drove straight from the airport to the Fairview residence of Mehbooba in Gupkar here at 3 pm. She stayed with the PDP president for about 20 minutes.
The Congress president was accompanied by Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, Congress general secretary Ambika Soni, state Congress chief G A Mir and party leader Saifuddin Soz.
Mufti breathed his last on Thursday at AIIMS in New Delhi after undergoing treatment there since December 24.
The meeting is seen as politically significant as BJP, an ally of PDP, has yet not officially extended support to Mehbooba for the Chief Ministership after Mufti's demise.
Congress has earlier shared power with PDP between 2002 and 2008, with both parties having their Chief Minister on rotational basis after three years. They later had a bitter split in 2008.
Gandhi's flying into here to meet Mehbooba assumes significance as there are reports that PDP and BJP are bargaining afresh over the formation of a new government.
PDP has already given a letter to Governor N N Vohra, saying that all its 28 MLAs support Mehbooba for the Chief Ministership. But Mehbooba has reportedly said that she will not take oath till the end of mourning period for her father, which is the fourth day that falls on Sunday.
Vohra on Friday had asked both PDP and BJP to convey their position on the government formation. Since BJP did not convey its position, the Governor yesterday imposed the President's Rule in the state.
In her condolence letter to Mehbooba, the Congress President described Mufti Mohammad Sayeed as a "fine administrator committed to the welfare of the people of Jammu and Kashmir" and one who reflected the best of Indian values rooted in respect for diversity and anchored in tolerance.
"Mufti Saheb cut across party boundaries. He was beyond party affiliations. He belonged to everybody. He reflected the very best of Indian values rooted in a respect for diversity and anchored in tolerance and accomodation," she said in the letter released by the Congress party here.
Gandhi said the former Chief Minister symbolised the very best of human values. "(He was) caring, calm and compassionate under the greatest pressures, reaching out to and engaging with everybody, bringing people together and free of prejudice," she said.
"As Chief Minister in 2002, he pledged himself to providing what he used to call the 'healing touch'," the Congress leader said, adding "He faced many challenges. But such was the force of his personality and such was the confidence that he evoked across different sections of society that he was able to confront them successfully and fulfill the promises he had made."
She said that "Mufti Saheb left us all too suddenly" but added that he will live in "our individual and collective memories. He will live as an example of the finest composite traditions of Jammu and Kashmir and the country".
Union Surface Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari also visited the residence of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti to offer condolences on the demise of her father and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.
"It is no time to talk politics. I have come here to convey condolences on behalf of the central government," Gadkari told reporters outside the Fairview residence of Mehbooba at Gupkar.
Recalling his meeting with the former Chief Minister in Delhi, the Union Minister said Sayeed had a dream for Jammu and Kashmir which included tourism, development and infrastructure among other things.
"We will try to fulfill all the assurances given to him on Jammu and Kashmir," he said.
