New Delhi : After months of uncertainty, 56 year old Mehbooba Mufti is all set to become the first lady chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir. She was elected the leader of the PDP Legislature Party and nominated as the party’s CM candidate at a meeting of the senior leaders, which included MPs, MLAs and MLCs, at her residence in Srinagar.
After a 90-minute meeting, senior party leader Muzaffar Hussain Baig told reporters, ”During the meeting, the legislators of the party decided that Mehbooba Mufti should be the leader of the legislature party and should be nominated as a candidate for the post of chief minister of the state.”
J-K deadlock: Mehbooba to meet PM Modi in Delhi
Baig added that she will meet Governor N.N. Vohra on Friday to stake a claim to form the government in the state. “The senior leaders of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) decided to elect Mehbooba Mufti as the legislature party leader. Mufti Mohammad had a detailed discussion with the Prime Minister before the alliance was stitched. After his death, Mehbooba ji had to rebuild the relationship. The oath ceremony will be decided after meeting the Governor. Our agenda of alliance is comprehensive and there is nothing to add or delete from it,” said Baig.
Had positive meeting with PM, says Mehbooba
Governor N.N. Vohra has called separate meetings with the PDP chief and the BJP state president Sat Sharma on Friday. The state BJP is expected to extend its support to the PDP. “A meeting of the MLAs has been called. We will take a decision after the meeting of the MLAs. The BJP follows internal democratic values. It has never made any extra demand. Agenda of Alliance that was formed is still the same,” said Jitendra Singh minister of state in Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
The state was placed under the Governor’s rule on January 8th after chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s death on January 7th.
PDP to take call on Kashmir government formation
Meanwhile, former J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah has flayed Mehbooba Mufti’s decision to go ahead with the government formation in the state with the BJP after a hiatus of two-and-a-half months, saying that the People’s Democratic party (PDP) chief should reveal to the people as to why she had agreed to this without ‘getting anything from the Centre’.
“On Wednesday Ram Madhav (BJP general secretary) gave a statement stating that Mehbooba ji neither asked for anything, nor did she get anything. She sought the Prime Minister’s blessing and he gave…We are surprised because for the last two and a half months we are being told that they would get something from Delhi. She had said that unless CBM are implemented, she wouldn’t form the government. What happened today? She needs to answer to the people that what made her wait for all these days,” Abdullah told the media.
