New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Parliamentary Board has given its nod to party's Jammu and Kashmir unit to forge an alliance with PDP to provide a ‘stable' government to the people of border state.
To give finishing touches to formalisation of the alliance, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti is likely to meet BJP president Amit Shah here today after seven-week long negotiations between the two parties.
If all goes well, the new government, headed by PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, will take oath on March 1.
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Sayeed will be Chief Minister for entire six-year term whereas BJP's Nirmal Singh is likely to be Deputy Chief Minister.
Sayeed had earlier headed a coalition government with Congress for three years from 2002.
Sources told India TV that the two sides have also decided on distribution of portfolios. While the PDP will retain Home and Finance; Tourism, PWD, Water Resource and Planning will go to the BJP.
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“We don't want only a strong alliance but a good governance government... a government which works for the welfare of Jammu and Kashmir people,” Mehbooba Mufti said.
Sayeed will meet Prime Minister Minister Narendra Modi later this week.
The common minimum programme would be released after Sayeed-Modi meeting.
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President of the BJP's J&K unit and MP from Jammu, Jugal Kishore Sharma, said, “We want a stable government with clear cut intention that it runs for complete six year. We also want a strong alliance.”
Both parties have kept under wraps the details of the common minimum programme, particularly with respect to the Article 370 and Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), the two issues over which the two parties have completely opposite views.
On Article 370, while BJP has given no written assurance as demanded by the PDP, the common minimum programme is expected to say that both parties will respect the aspirations of the people of the state within the Constitution.
On AFSPA, the two parties have decided that a committee would be formed which would recommend gradual, but timely, revocation of the Act from the state.
The proposed common minimum programme may also touch upon the issue of more than 25,000 families of West Pakistan refugees by terming it as a humanitarian issue.
The PDP had won 28 seats in the 87-member assembly, mostly from Kashmir. The BJP had bagged 25 seats from Jammu and Ladakh. The NC and Congress managed to get only 15 and 12 seats, respectively. Governor's rule was imposed in the state on January 9 after political parties failed to muster the requisite number in the House for staking claim to form government.
