Srinagar: Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) said on Tuesday that its alliance with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was intact and that neither side has set any preconditions towards the formation of new government in Jammu and Kashmir.
It also indicated that party president Mehbooba Mufti may take oath as the State’s chief minister but not before the seven-day official mourning for her late father Mufti Muhammad Sayeed. The former Chief Minister died in a Delhi hospital on January 7 is over.
“Nothing has been decided as yet. Even the state mourning is for seven days,” senior party leader Dr. Mehboob Beg told this newspaper. Speaking about the difficult situation Ms. Mufti has been caught in, he said, “When a person’s father dies, it changes his or her life forever. Mufti sahib was not just a father; he was a mentor, a philosopher and guide of Mehbooba. She is still in mourning and it is difficult to set a time frame (for the government formation).”
He added, “She has to come out of the colossal loss she has suffered. We haven’t talked about anything, we haven’t discussed anything. The day she comes out of grief, we will discuss. She has to take the final call”.
Earlier, Beg, who is also PDP’s spokesman, told reporters that the terms of alliance already worked out with the BJP will continue to govern the relationship between the two parties in the next government.
He said the PDP president will respect the people's mandate and carry forward the agenda of development set by the late chief minister Mr. Sayeed.
BJP had on Monday put the ball in the PDP's court saying it (PDP) has to take the first call and made it clear that it wanted the existing power-sharing arrangement between the two parties to continue. When asked about the uncertainty over the government formation in Jammu and Kashmir, BJP general secretary Ram Madhav, who is known as the architect of its alliance with the PDP, said, "PDP can answer this question. They have to think about the process they have to complete from their side. It is for PDP to take the first call from their side. They have to decide about their leader and come forward. I hope they take a decision soon so that this kind of uncertainty ends."
To a query if BJP expected a smooth takeover by a new PDP-BJP government, he said, "I am tempted to say it will be smooth. We will like to know what they are thinking. PDP has to be forthcoming."
Meanwhile, former chief minister and National Conference working president Omar Abdullah on Tuesday took a dig at media and other writers for writing about what PDP president Mufti is doing by delaying government formation, asking if anyone had actually spoken to her.
He wrote on micro blogging site Twitter.com, “So many people writing pieces about what Mehbooba is doing by delaying Govt formation but have any of them actually spoken to her directly”.
Earlier he said Mufti needs time to recover from the tragedy.
