He, too, said, “It is no time to talk politics”.
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Over speculations that Congress is offering an olive branch to Mehbooba after the demise of her father and J&K CM, while speaking to news agency ANI, Azad said, “Sonia Gandhi’s visit was just to offer prayer and attend the condolence meeting, for what she had come”.
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti held a meeting with its legislators and other senior party leaders at her official residence “Fairview” at Gupkar here Sunday evening.
A Congress spokesman said Sonia Gandhi also visited the family to offer her condolences and no political issues came up when she met Mehbooba. He stayed with Ms Mufti and her family for almost half an hour. She has gone through the thick and thin of Kashmir politics under the aegis of seasoned political mentor late Mufti Sayeed. I have come to offer condolences on behalf of the centre. If Mehbooba alliances her party with Congress it will be a master stroke from her that will resurrect her party and will also provide some sort of facing saving to party’s top brass and ground cadre.
Meanwhile, as per ‘Times of India’ the PDP chief has set tough conditions for the BJP saying if they want to continue the alliance or not.
The meetings are seen as politically significant as BJP, an ally of PDP, has yet not officially extended support to Mehbooba for the Chief Ministership after Mufti’s demise.
Between 2002 and 2008, the PDP had shared power with Congress. PDP’s coalition with the Congress broke on a sour note in 2008. J&K is under governor’s rule since Friday as Mehbooba, who was supposed to take oath as first woman CM of the state, declined to do so till end of the fourth day mourning period of her father’s death.
PDP has already given a letter to Governor N N Vohra, saying that all its 27 (rpt) 27 MLAs support Mehbooba for the Chief Ministership.
As per a ‘Times of India” report, BJP has requested the PDP chief to agree on appointing a “rotational chief minister ship’ for Jammu and Kashmir, which has been rejected by Mehbooba. Senior BJP leader Nirmal Singh, told reporters in Bijbehara that a call on government formation will be made after the BJP receives a message from the PDP leadership.
“We have taken a conscious decision to have an alliance with the BJP and we will continue to be part of the conscious decision”, said PDP youth leader Waheed Parra, who worked as political adviser to Sayeed.
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