Mehbooba Mufti to meet Governor on Wednesday

Srinagar, December 29

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti will meet Jammu and Kashmir Governor N.N. Vohra on Wednesday to discuss government formation in the state, a party leader said.

"In response to the invitation received from the Governor, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti will call on Governor Vohra on Wednesday," PDP chief spokesman Naeem Akhtar told IANS here.

Vohra had sent separate letters to the PDP and the BJP to come forward to discuss possibilities of government formation in the state, where the recent Assembly election threw up a hung Assembly.

The Governor  had broken precedent by sending letters to two political parties to discuss government formation while normally he should have sent such a communication to the single largest party.

The PDP has won 28 while the BJP won 25 seats in the 87-member state Assembly.

Raj Bhavan sources said while the PDP had emerged as the single-largest party in elections, the BJP had claimed support of six Independents who had won the elections and this necessitated a separate letter to them as well.

The new Assembly has to be constituted before Jan 16 when the term of the outgoing Assembly ends.

Although spokesmen of both the PDP and the BJP have refused to confirm it, top sources in both these parties have told IANS the two are in the final stage of stitching an alliance to claim power in the state.

Meanwhile, the PDP on Monday said the idea of a grand alliance with the National Conference and the Congress was an option for forming a stable government in the state.

“A grand alliance with the PDP, National Conference and Congress as partners is also an option,” PDP spokesman Naeem Akhtar told PTI.

Akhtar said it was one of the options that can be explored to form a stable government in the state and also fulfil the aspirations of all the regions of the state.

The idea of such an alliance was mooted by senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad.

The PDP has emerged as the single largest party with 28 seats in the 87-member Assembly followed closely by BJP with 25 seats while NC bagged 15. While Congress won 12 seats, smaller parties and independents got seven seats.

No political party has been able to yet muster the support of 44 MLAs required to form the government in the state.

The Congress, NC and several Independents have offered support to the PDP for government formation.   —IANS/PTI