A forward movement on agenda of alliance a pre-requisite for government formation: Mehbooba Mufti

SRINAGAR: PDP president Mehbooba Mufti today said her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's decision to ally with BJP was "carved in stone" but the agenda of alliance between two parties was equally important and a forward movement on its implementation was a pre-requisite for government formation.

"For me the decision of my father is 'Patther ki lakeer' (carved in stone), but the agenda of alliance which they (his father and BJP) chalked out is also very important just like Mufti Sahib's word," Mehbooba said addressing party workers at Kupwara in north Kashmir.

Mehbooba said she respects the decisions taken by her father which she claimed were always in the interest of the people of the state.

"I want to make one thing clear that it (alliance with BJP) is a decision taken by Sayeed and I respect it. When a father makes a will to his children, it's their responsibility to fulfil that will even if they get consumed while doing so," the PDP leader said.

Mehbooba said, however, there was another aspect of that decision that it was aimed at benefiting the people of the state through implementation of the agenda of alliance chalked out between the two parties.

"The decision of Sayeed to form an alliance government with BJP and to shake hands with the government at the Centre was for the people of Jammu and Kashmir, to maintain unity of the state, and for peace and development," she said.

Mehbooba said she would form the government only if she feels that the dreams of her father would be fulfilled.

"I will sit on the chair only if I feel I will fulfil the dreams of Sayeed for the people of Jammu and Kashmir. The chair is needed for the people of the state, not for myself. If I will get the chair just for myself and my family, then I don't need it as I don't have such ambitions.

"If I had such an ambition, I would have taken the chair during the lifetime of my father," she said.