Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, Jan 28: Heading towards formation of a coalition Government in the State, the leaders of both Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) today called on Governor, N N Vohra separately and apprised him about progress in their talks.
A three member BJP team led by Party national general secretary, Ram Madhav, its State chief and MP, Jugal Kishore Sharma and National Executive Member and MLA Billawar, Dr Nirmal Singh called on Governor, N N Vohra and informed him about the present status of the ongoing BJP-PDP talks on the formation of a coalition Government in the State.
During the one hour long discussion, Mr Madhav informed the Governor about the status of on going talks between his Party and PDP, a Raj Bhawan spokesman said.
Significantly after the BJP delegation, PDP MLA from Pulwama Dr Haseeb Drabu also called on Mr Vohra and discussed the status of talks between PDP and BJP on Government formation with him, the spokesman added.
Madhav later told reporters that “a structured dialogue would be started soon. We are working for ground work in that direction. After the ground work is completed, structured dialogue would be started. It takes some more time to complete the process”.
“Our talks are going on with PDP. There is progress in the talks. There is need to deliberate on two-three issues between the parties, which need a clearance on ideological front. After that we will come to a conclusion”, he said.
“We feel that we will reach a stage soon to be able to give a stable Government but do not ask me about the issues.
“We have informed Governor that talks are going on. We are making efforts to make a stable Government in the State,” he said and ruled out any connection between Government formation in the State and elections in Delhi.
Asked whether the Government formation is near, he said “it’s for you to guess”.
Later talking to Excelsior, BJP State president, Jugal Kishore Sharma said though it was a courtesy call, the BJP leaders discussed the status of talks regarding formation of Government between BJP and PDP with Governor. The Governor also showed his inclination of installing an elected Government in the State as early as possible, he added.
Besides the status of talks the BJP leaders discussed the ongoing situation in the State with Governor, said Dr Nirmal Singh.
BJP sources said that Mr Madhav informed the Governor that the talks are in progress with PDP on Government formation and two parties have reached an understanding on various issues. However, consensus is yet to be evolved on some contentious issues like Article 370, Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and Citizenship rights to West Pak refugees-the core issues for BJP, sources added.
Sources said both parties are working on Common Minimum Programme (CMP) and the issues taken up during the elections will form the part of CMP. Leaving the contentious issues aside, both the parties will stress on good governance, sources added.
Meanwhile, Dr Haseeb Drabu too apprised the Governor about the status of PDP-BJP parleys on the Government formation which have been continuing for the past about a month. He informed the Governor that the broad contours of the matters are being finalized in the coming days, a Raj Bhawan spokesman said. However, Dr Drabu declined to detail mediapersons that what transpired between him and Governor during the meeting.
Later, PDP Spokesman Nayeem Akhtar said that the talks on Government formation with BJP are on. He said structured dialogue on the formation of Government between the two parties can start at any time now as both parties have got an opportunity to form the coalition in the State. Akhtar said “Inshallah (God willing) PDP-BJP Government will be soon— it will not take any more time now”.
Nayeem said “talks are going on. After finalisation of the Common Minimum Programme (CPM), Government would be formed”
Mr Akhtar also exuded confidence that PDP will win both the Rajya Sabha seats for which elections are to be held on February 7.
It may be recalled that in the highly-fractured verdict, PDP emerged as the single largest party with 28 MLAs followed closely by BJP with 25. National Conference ended up with a tally of 15 while Congress got 12 seats.
In the 87-member House, two seats each went to People’s Conference and Jammu and Kashmir People’s Democratic Front (Secular), two Independents and one to CPM.
In Delhi, Congress reacted cautiously to the development in the State.
“The Jammu and Kashmir situation has been evolving for a long time. Let something concrete happen. It will be one more U-Turn for those who had been targeting the PDP and its leadership”, party spokesman Randeep Surjewala said obviously targeting the BJP.
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