Possible end to impasse? J&K governor to meet Mehbooba, state BJP head on Friday

Jammu/Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Governor NN Vohra on Wednesday called PDP President Mehbooba Mufti and state BJP unit chief Sat Pal Sharma for separate meetings on Friday to discuss government formation even as the regional party is set to hold its crucial legislature party meeting on Thursday. “Through separate communications, the governor has intimated the president of PDP and the State President of the BJP to meet him on Friday, 25 March, 2016”, a Raj Bhawan spokesman said in Jammu, as signs emerged for return of the PDP-BJP coalition government after a prolonged deadlock. The meetings with the two leaders in Jammu have been scheduled to be held separately, he said. J&K has been under Governor’s Rule since 8 January. [caption id=“attachment_2690500” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Mehbooba Mufti. AFP[/caption] A PDP leader said a meeting of the legislature party will be held in Srinagar at 4 pm on Thursday. He said Mehbooba will preside over the meet which comes against the backdrop of her meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on Tuesday. The leader said a final decision is expected after Mehbooba will take the opinion of the legislators on the formation of the government.  The party will likely make an announcement on the future of alliance with the BJP after the meeting, he said. The BJP, meanwhile, asserted that it has not accepted any new conditions from PDP and threw the ball in Mehbooba’s court, saying her party has to make the next move for government formation. Party General Secretary Ram Madhav’s assertion came a day after Mehbooba’s meeting with Modi which she had termed as “very positive and good”, triggering speculation that their talks over government formation was back on track following months of impasse. “We have not accepted any new condition from the PDP,” Madhav, a party’s pointsman in the state, told PTI in Delhi. The talks between Modi and Mehbooba were cordial during which specific issues were not discussed, he said, adding that she also did not put up any condition during the meeting. The PDP-BJP coalition, after 10 months rule from March 2015 to January this year, ran into rough weather following the death of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.  Sayeed breathed his last in a hospital in Delhi on 7 January, following which the state came under Governor’s Rule the next day. Since then, the PDP leadership sought Confidence Building Measures and assurances on the implementation of the already agreed Agenda for Alliance from the Centre for forming the government again. PTI