Mehbooba’s Delhi visit raises hopes of government formation in J&K

After a meeting with BJP president Amit Shah failed to yield a breakthrough last week, Mehbooba had returned to Jammu and Kashmir, with top leaders of her party saying there was little hope now of bridging a yawning gap between the parties to renew their partnership and form government together in the state.  

Now, Mehbooba Mufti’s visit to Delhi on Monday is seen as a signal of new hope for talks between her People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the BJP over government formation in Jammu and Kashmir. 

Sources close to her, however, would not say whether the visit has been prompted by revival of the broken parleys between the PDP and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on formation of the new government. Senior PDP leader and former state finance minister Haseeb Drabu left for New Delhi early on Monday along with Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra, former political advisor to late Mufti Muhammad Sayeed. 

These developments have renewed hopes in PDP circles that fresh channels of communication have been opened with the BJP. The talks had broken down after Ram Madhav, the national general secretary of the BJP, said no conditions would be accepted from the PDP prior to government formation in Jammu and Kashmir. 

What has added to the hopes of renewed parleys between the two alliance partners is also the statement of union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday that the BJP was firmly committed to the “agenda of governance in J&K”.  

Meanwhile, reports here said senior PDP leader and Lok Sabha member Muzaffar Hussain Baig has been engaged in hectic efforts to end the deadlock over government formation in the state. Baig has all along been advocating the continuation of his party’s alliance with the BJP, and has said that it is in the best interests of the people. 

BJP and PDP had joined hands last after no party got a majority in state elections. The PDP is the largest party with 28 seats — now 27 following Mr Sayeed’s death — in the 87-member house. The BJP is second with 25 seats.