Mehbooba Mufti to meet Governor in Jammu for forming the government

SRINAGAR: As the PDP leadership struggles to bring together its legislators divided over any possible tieup with the BJP, party patriarch Mufti Sayeed on Monday met all his MLAs individually and asked them to return to their constituencies to find out what their voters wanted the party to do with regard to forming a government.

Meanwhile, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti will meet Governor NN Vohra in Jammu on Wednesday and brief him about her party’s efforts to form a government. Mufti Sayeed, said to be disappointed at the fractured mandate, has been keeping to himself for the last few days and only a few top party functionaries had access to him. “Me and my colleagues had a 10-12 minute meeting with Mufti sahab on one-on-one basis,” a lawmaker said, adding, “We were asked to explain our position towards particular options available before the party and then asked to offer feedback on its merits and demerits.”

However, the MLAs that ET spoke to said Mufti still seemed undecided and he didn’t seem to favour any single option in front of the party to form a government with or without BJP’s help.

“He (Mufti) did not offer any clarity on if he personally supports any particular option,” a legislator said.

Another leader said even those PDP leaders who had lost the polls were asked to seek the opinion of the voters of the constituency from where they contested.

Though no deadlines are set, lawmakers were asked to return back to the party headquarters as early as possible. This feedback, party sources said, would help them move towards a particular direction as they have multiple options available. The party, as already reported, is in touch with three parties – BJP, Congress and NC— at “credible levels”.