A day after Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti met Jammu and Kashmir Governor N.N. Vohra, a BJP delegation, including its State president Jugal Kishore Sharma, on Thursday called on him and sought more time for government formation.
“We have asked the Governor for some more time so that the result of the ongoing dialogue [with other political parties] comes out. There are many issues that need to be discussed and that is why it is taking time,” Mr. Sharma said.
A formal round of talks with the PDP leadership will begin in the next two or three days, a senior BJP leader involved in parleys told reporters in New Delhi. There are indications that the two parties will work out a common minimum programme to set aside contentious issues.
Back-channel talks have been in progress between the BJP and the PDP, the two largest single parties in the Assembly elections, with the latter winning almost all the seats in the Kashmir Valley and the former sweeping Jammu’s Hindu heartland. The BJP also held talks with the National Conference, which won 15 seats, but the NC faced an anti-incumbency vote in the elections and a partnership with it will still leave the BJP short of six seats to form a government.
The biggest point of contention between the BJP and the PDP is the rotation of Chief Ministership. While the BJP, with 25 seats and a lot of campaigning around the slogan of installing the first Hindu Chief Minister in the State, wants to have its own candidate for three years, for the PDP, the idea of its patron Mufti Sayeed being the head of the government the entire six-year term is non-negotiable.
“That was the main issue between the two parties, but it has almost been sorted out as the BJP seems to have accepted that Mufti will be the Chief Minister for the entire term,” a senior BJP leader told The Hindu in Srinagar. “Our coming together will be on the grounds of development and governance, and controversial issues will be set aside for the time being.”
Mr. Vohra has given both parties time till January 19, after which the State would come under Governor’s rule.
“We are not in a hurry [to form the government].We are working to give the people of Jammu and Kashmir a stable government that completes its tenure of six years,” Mr. Sharma said.
