Govt formation to take time, says BJP as PDP accuses Omar of sabotage

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday ruled out early government formation in the state even as two weeks have passed since the assembly poll results threw a hung assembly.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday ruled out early government formation in the state even as two weeks have passed since the assembly poll results threw a hung assembly.

"Lot of kite-flying over govt formation in J&K. Better note that no formal and structured dialogue has begun between any two parties," BJP general secretary and J&K pointman Ram Madhav tweeted on Wednesday.

The tweet has put all speculations that the BJP, with its 25 seats, and the PDP, with 28 seats, have sealed a deal to form the government to rest.

The BJP leader's comment has also kept alive the chances of the governor's rule in the state as the January 19 deadline nears without any clear sign of any coalition taking shape.

The PDP, on the other hand, was hopeful of a major headway this week on the government formation. The party has accused National Conference working president and acting chief minister Omar Abdullah of ruining the PDP-BJP prospectus.

"Abdullah is now trying to subvert any chances of movement in taking forward the peace and reconciliation initiatives that were frozen under the NC-led coalition's tenure," said PDP spokesman Naeem Akhtar.

The PDP leadership is apparently ruffled by a barrage of curt tweets hurled by Abdullah at the likelihood of the BJP-PDP government formation. The NC leader has questioned the BJP hints at addressing the PDP concerns on the Armed Forces Special Powers Act.

The latest attack came on Wednesday when Abdullah tagged the rival party's twitter handle on the micro-blogging site from London: "I don't envy the @jkpdp having to explain the imminent imposition of central rule when they've had a credible offer of support from @JKNC (sic)".

"The poor spokesperson of the @jkpdp, his frustration knows no bounds :-)," he added.