JNU fallout to decide Jammu & Kashmir govt formation?

NEW DELHI: With the JNU row showing no sign of ebbing, a dark shadow has been cast over the turbulent PDP-BJP alliance in Jammu & Kashmir.

Sources said PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, who has kept the alliance on hold since her father Mufti Mohammed Sayeed's demise on January 7, has now decided to wait and watch how the JNU episode unfolds before making any formal announcement.

On Wednesday, BJP's prime negotiator with PDP, Ram Madhav, had met Mehbooba in an attempt to break the logjam that has fanned uncertainty in the state.

Asked about the outcome of the meeting, Mehbooba remained silent, but top PDP sources told TOI that she will be coming to Delhi next week for the Budget session. Mehbooba is an MP from Anantnag and will have to resign from Parliament to take over as chief minister.

"In the present climate, when Kashmiri students are being branded anti-national, it is difficult for us to announce government formation right away," said a PDP source.

Some in BJP want party to set deadline for PDP

PDP has for a while been conscious of rapidly losing ground in the Valley. The JNU imbroglio has further polarised the Valley between the two alliance partners.

PDP has in the past called the hanging of 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru a "travesty of justice" and demanded his mortal remains be brought back to Srinagar. Guru's execution has become a rallying cry in many parts of the Valley with observers even comparing it with the massive mobilisation that took place in J&K after the execution of militant leader Maqbool Bhat in 1984.

While PDP keeps BJP waiting, a section of the saffron outfit believes a deadline must be set for Mehbooba to respond else the party will be accused of double standards of seeking an alliance with PDP even as it brands pro-Afzal supporters anti-national. However, the PDP supremo seems to be in no hurry to make any announcement.