NEW DELHI: Mehbooba Mufti-led PDP leaders would be coming to Delhi soon to hold talks with the union ministers and BJP leaders to work out a timeline of projects as envisaged in the common minimum programme between the alliance partners. This is seen as a step towards government formation by PDP-BJP government in Jammu Kashmir.
The development comes after BJP general secretary Ram Madhav met PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti at her residence in Srinagar on Wednesday. Madhav said BJP would stick to the CMP, the old arrangement that was worked out between the two partners, when Mufti Mohd Sayeed as base for future government. “There can be no dilution or addition to the document,” Madhav said thus dismissing any talks of change in position on contentious issues like AFSPA, holding talks with separatists or any new confidence build measures.
Madhav said, “both sides were positive on government formation.” But refused to give any timeframe government formation.
Sources said among the issues for which further talks will be held between BJP and PDP includes those already mentioned in the CMP like setting up of townships for Kashmiri pundits or flood relief to the those affected. PDP leaders would be coming to Delhi to ministers to thrash out any differences.
Madhav denied a media report which said that BJP has agreed to revoke AFSPA from some areas of Kashmir on trial basis, claiming that there has been no discussion on it with Mehbooba.
Madhav after discussing the matter with the party leadership met Mehbooba where he insisted on sticking to the CMP. He said he had conveyed to her that the government under her late father was running well on the basis of the Common Minimum Programme and BJP wanted the arrangement to continue.
Madhav had flown to Srinagar by a chattered flight to Srinagar to meet Mehbooba. Though, the meeting was kept under wraps, former CM Omar Abdullah tweeted about a plane landing at Srinagar in evening thus hinting that talks were on.
The BJP is keen that government was formed at the earliest, but would like to stick to CMP and not be seen giving in to the alliance partners’s any fresh demands as that would harm its core constituency and Jammu voters which gave an impressive mandate for the saffron party.