Will not come under any pressure: BJP on J&K government formation

NEW DELHI: After tough talk by PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, BJP today made it clear that it will not come under "any pressure" over government formation in Jammu and Kashmir even as it is committed to the common minimum programme chalked out last year.

On the eve of meeting Governor N N Vohra to convey its stand, BJP put the onus of carrying forward the alliance on PDP, saying Mehbooba has to take a call on continuing the roadmap laid by her late father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.

Party leaders made the stand clear as some senior leaders of the state BJP rushed here to consult party chief Amit Shah and others on the future course of action.

The agenda for governance is already in place and there is no question of coming under "any pressure", BJP leaders said.

The party feels that there is nothing left from their side and the call is to be taken by Mehbooba on continuing the roadmap laid by her late father.

BJP leaders said the party is committed to the welfare and development of Jammu and Kashmir and would stand by the common minimum programme chalked out when they put in place a coalition government led by former chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in March last year.

The political crisis in Jammu and Kashmir arose after Mufti died on January 7.

His daughter Mehbooba said yesterday that before taking a call on continuing the alliance, she wants to "reassess" whether the Narendra Modi government would take substantive steps within a "set timeframe" to address the "core" political and economic issues of the state.

The BJP core group earlier met in Jammu this morning and discussed the issues amongst themselves.

The leaders have since arrived in Delhi and hold further consultations with party chief Amit Shah and other top leaders. They are to meet Vohra tomorrow.

State BJP chief Sat Sharma earlier said there was "no concrete" demand or condition from PDP in writing.

He said his party is committed to the implementation of "Agenda of Alliance" and will address any issues that its ally PDP may have.

He said development has taken place in the state in the past few months under the 'Agenda of Alliance', a vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mufti Mohammed Sayeed's to take Jammu and Kashmir forward. He also promised speeding up of the developmental work in the state.

The Governor has written to leaders of the two parties asking them to clarify their stand on government formation by tomorrow. The parties had run a coalition government for 10 months till January 7.

PDP, with 27 MLAs in the 87-member Assembly and BJP with 25 legislators, ran a coalition government headed by Mufti Sayeed for 10 months before his demise on January 7.