PDP says it didn't demand confidence-building measures from BJP for Kashmir govt formation

Jammu: Adopting a reconciliatory tone after weeks of tough-talk, PDP on Monday said it has not demanded any confidence-building measures (CBMs) from its ally BJP as a pre-condition for government formation which will take “some time”. BJP, in turn, also sounded hopeful of moving ahead with formation of coalition government in the state which has been under the Governor’s Rule since 8 January, a day after the sudden death of then Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. Senior PDP leader Muzaffar Hussain Beigh asserted that the alliance with BJP is in tact and there was no question of making any fresh demands to the coalition partner. [caption id=“attachment_2627550” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Mehbooba Mufti. Reuters[/caption] “It (formation of the government) is being looked into. We don’t want alliance primarily for gaining the power. We want the alliance (government) to work for the people of the state. So it (government formation) will take some time,” he told reporters in Jammu in response to questions over government formation. He, however, did not reveal why the government formation will be delayed. “Some things are confidential. If something is revealed before time, things get derailed,” PDP MP and former state minister said while insisting that the issue of people wanting the government “is in our mind”. When attention was drawn to the demand by PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti that the central BJP government should announce CBMs before any initiative could be taken to form the government, he claimed, “She (Mehbooba) has never said anything like CBMs. I don’t know where from the newspapers have carried such a news about CBMs.” He went on to add, “CBMs actually take place between two hostile countries. It (PDP-BJP) is one alliance which has not disintegrated here. We are not talking to any enemy that we should demand CBMs.” Mehbooba, seen as a successor to her father Mufti Sayeed as Chief Minister, has earlier talked tough, asserting that PDP “cannot move forward” in forming government with BJP unless the Centre takes “tangible confidence-building measures” to address the causes of alienation and works towards a lasting solution to the state’s problems. She had also made it clear that she will not form the government with BJP if the Modi dispensation does not create a “conducive atmosphere” by committing CBMs for the state. Seeking to interpret these statements of Mehbooba, Beigh said, “she has said that there should be a timeframe on our ‘Agenda of Alliance’ — that in the first year, we can do this thing and in the second year, next thing, and so on.” Claiming that the PDP chief had “not used the word CBMs for any fresh demand”, the party leader remarked, “But the thing is that Mehbooba Mufti said that whatever has been decided (in the Agenda of Alliance), a time-frame should be added to it. What we have agreed for six years has even been accepted by BJP people”. In Delhi, BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav, who had played a key role in forging the alliance, said, “We are communicating with each other. It is not that communication between us has broken down.” BJP sources sounded hopeful of forming the alliance government that ruled the state for 10 months under Sayeed but the two parties have been unable to come together after Mehbooba Mufti took over PDP following her father’s death. Asked about new conditions put forth by PDP for the resumption of alliance, BJP sources said the saffron party had shared its views too with the regional party and talks were continuing. Meanwhile, on the 40th day of Sayeed’s death today, BJP leaders Sat Pal Sharma, Nirmal Singh, Bali Bhagat and C P Ganga visited Mehbooba’s residence. “It was a courtesy call on the 40th day,” Sharma told PTI. Earlier, Mehbooba, accompanied by several senior party leaders, went to Sayeed’s grave in his hometown Bijbehara in Anantnag to pay their homage. PTI