PDP chief Mehbooba maintains suspense over govt formation

Maintaining suspense over government formation in Jammu and Kashmir, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday said she will take a decision while keeping in mind the “dignity, honour and welfare” of the people of the state.

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti said on Sunday that a long-awaited decision on continuing her party’s alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party for sharing power in the state would keep in mind ‘honour, dignity and welfare of the people’.

Jammu and Kashmir has been under Governor’s Rule since January 8, imposed a day after Mehbooba’s father and then chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed passed away suddenly. (HT FILE PHOTO)

Her statement, a day before the BJP-led Union government presents the country’s Budget on Monday, suggests the limbo in the formation of the insurgency-wracked state will continue despite the two parties carrying out multiple rounds of negotiations.

“If we really want to turnaround the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, we will have to not only involve Pakistan in a sustained dialogue but at the same time take some bold political and economic initiatives on the internal front to address the concerns of the State’s people and do away with the past injustices done with them,” she said while addressing party workers in South Kashmir’s Anantnag.

The limbo began when Mehbooba’s father and chief minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed passed away, ten months after he set up a government in alliance with BJP.

“The challenge for my party today is not National Conference and Congress but the peace initiatives started by my father in 2002,” she said. “Thousands of youth are unemployed and hence lured into militancy”.