The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah Friday said his party has been holding talks with both PDP and NC over government formation in Jammu and Kashmir but there has been no fruitful outcome yet. However, the NC has strongly denied any meeting with the saffron party.
A day after BJP sought more time from Jammu and Kashmir governor NN Vohra in view of the ongoing dialogue with parties, Shah told reporters in Mumbai, "Talks are on with both parties...(but) there has been no fruitful outcome (yet)."
"We want to form government in Jammu & Kashmir," added Shah who was in the city to review BJP's membership drive in Maharashtra.
When asked about BJP's impressive showing in the Jammu region but not in the Kashmir Valley, Shah said the party had got 25 seats in the state which was a "sizeable" number. "Please don't present this in a distorted manner. It would be nice if BJP won all seats it contested in all elections," he said countering criticism over his party's failure to open its account in the Valley.
However, NC spokesperson Junaid Mattu said NC has quit the race. "The negotiation is a two way process and National Conference is in no negotiations with BJP,'' he said.
"If BJP has reached out to anybody we cannot humanly stop that, but the process becomes mutual when two parties sit down to discuss any thing. We are not doing that,'' he added.
However, NC spokesperson Junaid Mattu said NC has quit the race. "The negotiation is a two way process and National Conference is in no negotiations with BJP,'' he said.
"If BJP has reached out to anybody we cannot humanly stop that, but the process becomes mutual when two parties sit down to discuss any thing. We are not doing that,'' he added.
Sources in National Conference revealed that the party is viewing the statement from Shah as a pressure tactic. ``PDP uses Congress to put pressure on BJP and similarly BJP is using NC. As far as our understanding of the situation is concerned, the government formation talks between the two parties have reached the conclusion and the parties are discussing portfolios right now. It's a matter of time that the two parties will make the alliance public,'' said an NC leader, who did not want to be named.
The Jammu and Kashmir governor has set January 19 deadline for formation of the government in the state where PDP has emerged as the largest party with 28 seats in the 87-member assembly but way short of a majority. BJP is the second largest party with 25 members.