SRINAGAR: PDP and BJP leaders will meet the Governor on Saturday to jointly stake claim to form the government in Jammu and Kashmir. The State BJP on Friday elected Dr Nirmal Singh as its legislature party leader and nominated him for the post of Deputy Chief Minister in the new government to be headed by PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti.
Sources in PDP and BJP said leaders of the two parties met in Jammu and discussed the nitty gritty of government formation. PDP was represented by senior leaders A R Veeri and Haseeb Drabu while State BJP president Sat Pal Sharma and MP Jugal Kishore represented the saffron party. “The two parties deliberated on the portfolios to be shared,” the sources told Express. The BJP, the sources said, is demanding important portfolios in return for allowing Mehbooba Mufti to continue as CM for the full term. They want either finance, planning, R&B or home portfolios.
After sorting out the issues, the leaders of the two parties will jointly meet Governor N N Vohra to stake claim to form the government. Both the parties will also hand over support letters from MLAs to the Governor and fix a date for the swearing-in ceremony.
Earlier in the day, BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav chaired the meeting of party legislators and senior leaders in Jammu. “The legislators unanimously elected Dr Nirmal Singh as the legislature party leader and nominated him for Deputy Chief Minister’s post. The legislators also extended full support to Mehbooba Mufti as the new Chief Minister,” Sat Pal Sharma told reporters after the meeting. Asked whether they would meet the Governor as he had called them for a meeting on Friday, the State BJP chief said, “Government formation talks will take some time and we may not be able to meet the Governor today (Friday).”
Nirmal Singh for deputy CM
At a meeting of party legislators and senior leaders, chaired by BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav, Dr Nirmal Singh was unanimously elected the legislature party leader and nominated for the Deputy Chief Minister’s post.