Mufti meets Modi prior to taking oath

COALITION MARKS FIRST TIME A PRO-HINDU PARTY IS PART OF J&K GOVERNMENT

Ajay Jha

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed yesterday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of taking an oath as the new chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir tomorrow.

Mufti’s PDP and Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had on Tuesday announced their decision to join hands and form a coalition government in India’s northern most state two months after the state delivered a fractured mandate.

It would be the first time that a pro-Hindu party would be part of a government in India’s only Muslim majority state.

Mufti is said to have invited Modi to his swearing-in ceremony. Sources in the BJP said Modi has accepted the invitation and will attend the event.

BJP’s Nirmal Singh is expected to be sworn-in as deputy chief minister while the two parties will share six cabinet berths each in the new government.

The two leaders discussed the common minimum programme or agenda for governance, which was painstakingly worked out over negotiations that lasted two months. While PDP leader Haseeb Drabu was the chief negotiator on behalf of his party, BJP general secretary Ram Madhav represented his party.

Mufti admitted, after meeting Modi at his 7 Racecourse Road residence, that it was a meeting between the north and south poles.

“It was a war of nerves,” Mufti said about reconciliation between two ideologically opposite parties, but added that a common ground had been found as both the parties were flexible during negotiations.

Demands dropped

While BJP conceded PDP’s demand that status quo would be maintained over Article 370 of the Indian constitution that gives Jammu and Kashmir status of a special state within the Union of India, PDP agreed to drop its demand for repelling of AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Protection Act) that allows the army to arrest anyone without warrant in the sensitive state. The two parties had agreed that the state police and paramilitary forces would replace the army in areas where normality had returned in the strife-torn state. Mufti is also believed to have taken up his demand for the resumption of dialogue with Pakistan.