Srinagar: The Centre will be represented by Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu and Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Jitendra Singh at Mehbooba Mufti’s swearing-in ceremony as Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir on Monday.
Mehbooba had been seeking assurances from the central government on the implementation of the agenda of the alliance and the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) framed by the two parties last year.
However, her meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 22 ended the over two-month-long deadlock on government formation in the state. Mehbooba had described her meeting with the Prime Minister as ‘positive’, saying she was satisfied.
The BJP had sought equal number of portfolios as the PDP. In the earlier Cabinet, the PDP had 11 portfolios while the BJP had seven. Jammu and Kashmir was put under Governor’s Rule on January 8, a day after then chief minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed passed away in New Delhi.
PDP and BJP had staked claim for government formation on March 26, two days after Mehbooba was elected as PDP’s legislature party leader. Mehbooba, had earlier met Governor N.N. Vohra and staked claim to form the government with the support of 25 MLAs of the BJP. The PDP has 27 MLAs in the 87-member state Assembly.
