PDP does not have numbers to form Jammu & Kashmir government on its own: Mehbooba Mufti

JAMMU: Soon after her re-election as the PDP president for a tenure of three years, Mehbooba Mufti today said the party does not have a mandate to form the government in Jammu and Kashmir on its own.

"PDP doesn't not have such a mandate that we... stake our claim to form the government, we don't have that many numbers," she said while addressing party leaders here soon after her reelection as party president.

She said that it was the duty of every Indian citizen to protect the special status and the special position of Jammu and Kashmir.

"Jammu and Kashmir has been given special status in the Indian constitution due to its distinct identity at the time of its accession and it is the responsibility of entire nation to protect this status in the interest of people and country at large," she said.

"It is testing time for us. People, especially in Kashmir, have their own apprehension and are hesitantly looking at the political leadership of state and country," she added.

Mehbooba became the party president for the fourth consecutive term after MP Muzaffar Hussain Baig and Tariq Hussain Qarra proposed her name.

Terming Jammu and Kashmir issue as the byproduct of India's partition in 1947, the PDP president said, "The issue needs to be resolved for peace and tranquillity in the region".

She said people of Jammu and Kashmir have given a decisive verdict to initiate steps to bridge gap between Jammu and Kashmir regions.