After Mehbooba’s hints, BJP pushes for early govt formation

www.mangaloretoday.com

Jammu, Mar 5, 2016: After PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti dropped hints of going ahead with it, BJP today pushed for early formation of the coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir, saying people were desiring it.

"I think that the J&K government should be formed without wasting time", BJP leader Nirmal Singh told reporters here.

The former Deputy Chief Minister said people want them to form the government as they have suffered a lot during the Congress regime.

"It took two months to prepare the ’Agenda of Alliance’," he said about the efforts made when the coalition was firmed up between the two parties in March last year.

PDP, which has 27 MLAs in the 87-member Assembly, and 25-member BJP ran a 10 month-government till the sudden demise of the then Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on January 7.

The state is under Governor’s Rule since January 8 as Mehbooba, seen as successor to her father Mufti Sayeed, did not stake claim to form the government.

After two-month suspense, the PDP chief yesterday dropped hints of going ahead with BJP in government formation, saying she was "not afraid" of criticism over it but wanted the Centre to send out a "signal" that it will do "everything" for the welfare of people of J&K.

She also underlined that her party wanted her to form the government and she was not "adamant".

Barely hours after making these comments, Mehbooba held an hour-long meeting with Governor N N Vohra over the "political situation" and "various challenges" facing the state.