Mufti to be sworn in tomorrow

Dinesh Manhotra/ Amit Khajuria

Tribune News Service

Jammu, February 27

Peoples Democratic Party patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed today staked claim to form the next government in the state, almost nine weeks after the Assembly election results were declared in December last. He will be sworn in as CM on March 1.

Mufti had sent the communication to Governor NN Vohra staking his claim to form the government, Raj Bhawan sources said.

A Raj Bhawan spokesperson said a delegation of BJP leaders comprising Kavinder Gupta, Abdul Ghani Kohli, Sat Sharma and Daleep Singh Parihar called on the Governor and offered their party’s support to the PDP patron and urged him to invite Mufti Sayeed to form the next government with the BJP. The PDP has 28 MLAs and the BJP 25 adding up to 53 in the 87-member House. The combination also has the support of four independents.

The letters were handed over to Governor after Mufti Sayeed met Prime Minister Narendra Modi for over an hour in New Delhi this morning, where the two pledged to work in coordination with each other for the development of the state and to repair the ruptured relations between regions. Mufti Sayeed said that with the PDP having got a majority of seats in Kashmir Valley and the BJP having done so in the Jammu region offered an opportunity for a stable government in the state.
The Prime Minister will also attend the swearing-in ceremony, which is scheduled to be held at Zorawar Singh Stadium in Jammu University on Sunday at 11 a.m. It is not known as to how many ministers would be sworn in on the day.
"In his letter to the Governor, Mufti informed him that with the support of the BJP the PDP-led coalition would enjoy a clear majority and was in a position to provide a stable government in the state in the wake of a split verdict.