No govt in J&K if Centre does not support: Mehbooba
Jammu, February 5
We will not form government until the environment in the state is conducive, Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti said on Friday as the state inches closer to completing a month of being under Governor’s rule.
"There are problems within problems. To face these difficulties, we need to have support and to have that conducive atmosphere (for forming government). If we get that, it is fine but if that does not happen, we will continue to move as we are moving today," Mehbooba told party leaders at a meeting on Friday.
She claimed that she was looking for confidence building measures, not financial packages for the state.
"It is not the matter of money. How much money has come and how much we have spent? When and how it came? But the issue is, how will we create a conducive atmosphere so that the new government gets a new path and fillip to go ahead and create a goodwill among the people," she said, flanked by her brother Tassaduq Mufti and senior PDP leader Muzaffar Hussain Beigh.
She dimissed accusations of blackmail, saying: "The decision of Mufti sahib is acceptable to us... Mufti sahib had taken this decision (of formation government with the BJP) for the welfare of the people. His commitment is my commitment. But it is a tough trial for me in the wake of void created by his demise".
“The state is not like Punjab, Rajasthan or Assam. We face a lot difficulties here. There are problems within problems. To face these difficulties, we need to have strength and to have that conducive atmosphere."
"We cannot form government in the air. The point is how to create a conducive atmosphere so that if a new government is formed, there is a way forward for creating goodwill among the people," she said.
Her remarks reflect the party’s hardening stand, as political uncertainty over government formation in the state continues.
The state has been under Governor’s rule since January 8 after former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed died earlier this month. — PTI
