PDP President Mehbooba Mufti to meet Amit Shah, may seek more say in dealing with separatists

SRINAGAR: PDP president Mehbooba Mufti is likely to meet BJP president Amit Shah next week to discuss the review and revision of the common minimum programme agreed upon by the two parties in February last year. Mebooba wants greater say in dealing with separatists unlike her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed who, as a deft reconciler, could play both sides - the Centre and the separatists - depending on the situation.

Mehbooba is also supposed to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his approval of her new proposals for government formation to "fulfil the dreams" of her late father, a top PDP official said.

Although Mehbooba will broadly follow in Mufti's footsteps, she needs the separatists on her side for the crucial byelections that would follow once she resigns from her Lok Sabha seat and seeks election as a legislator.

The PDP would also give an arm and a leg for the Anantnag Lok Sabha seat that she would vacate, with Mehbooba's cinematographer brother Tassaduq Hussain, 44, as the most likely candidate.

Mehbooba wants the Centre to maintain distance from PDP's dealings with the Hurriyat and hardliners like Masarat Alam, as she needs their backing for her electoral aims and politics.

Hitherto, the Centre had always asked Mufti to deal sternly with the Hurriyat. It was under such pressure that the former chief minister was forced to re-arrest hardliner Masarat Alam. "Home minister Rajnath Singh had prevailed upon Mufti to re-arrest Masarat," a PDP official said.

Before agreeing to form the next government, Mehbooba will also insist on a written assurance from the BJP for free flow of funds and handover of power projects from the NHPC so that the state could overcome the acute shortage of power, party sources said.

Karan Singh's son Yuvraj Vikramaditya Singh, a PDP MLC, on Monday said the party was for restoring sustainable and lasting peace in the region.

"Mufti would be remembered as crusader of peace who throughout his life acted like a cementing force to strengthen internal regional relations," Singh said, and termed him a statesman who had a comprehensive vision for the state.