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Alliance rumours swirl as Sonia Gandhi meets PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti

He was referring to speculations about Congress warming up to PDP for government formation in the state and Mehbooba setting conditions before the BJP.

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PDP president Mehbooba Mufti today showered praise on Jammu and Kashmir’s bureaucracy, saying it had worked with “single-minded dedication” and “out-of-box thinking” to ensure good governance under the Chief Ministership of her father late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. The Congress however termed it as a non-political visit.

Swamy further said that both parties should sit and decide on the next Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister. The minister said he had come on behalf of the Indian Government and his party to offer condolences on the demise of Chief Minister (CM) Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.

“We will take a call on government formation once we receive a formal communication from the Peoples Democratic Party”. The buzz within the PDP was that she was upset that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not visit her father in hospital or turn up at the funeral. There were murmurs of dissent within the PDP and the Jammu and Kashmir unit of BJP wasn’t too happy about it either.

It was also the seventh time Governor’s Rule has been promulgated in the state since Independence, the first being in March 1977.

The BJP reminded Mehbooba that the coalition formula with the PDP was underpinned on Mufti Sayeed’s “grand vision” to integrate Jammu and Ladakh “fully” with the Valley.

Senior leaders also say, Nayeem Akhtar, who was given the education ministry, due to his close proximity to party patron Sayeed, without fighting an election in the assembly polls, also expressed his concern due to the change in the guard.

BJP general secretary in-charge of J&K Avinash Rai Khanna said they are waiting for PDP to formally elect their Legislature Party leader after which other formalities could be done.

Sources in state BJP told Mirror that Mehbooba can’t break off the alliance her father cobbled up over two months with the BJP.

“I do not think there is any need for talks (with BJP)”. BJP sources said there was an apparent war of nerves, and any stand on issues like the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) or government would depend on what emanated from the PDP. “There was no political agenda involved, you should ask Mehboobaji about the political developments in the state”, Ghulam Nabi Azad said after the meeting.

The third time Governor’s Rule was imposed in January 1990 when Farooq Abdullah resigned as the Chief Minister over the appointment of Jagmohan Malhotra as the state Governor following eruption of militancy in the state. And all the secular forces should unite and rise above their political positions to form an alliance with PDP.

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“The PDP has not said anything to us”. “RSS and BJP are anti-Kashmir”, he said.

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