Decision on govt. formation to be taken by BJP chief, says Jaitley

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday held a meeting with all the 25 MLAs, who won in Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections, and said that the decision on government formation in the state will be taken by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah.

"There was a meeting of 25 winning MLAs of J-K Assembly in Jammu today. I have personally talked to all MLAs and taken into view their opinion about who should be the leader of legislative Assembly. We will authorize the party president to take a decision as per emerging political situation. We are in active touch with at least the unattached members," said Jaitley.

Jammu and Kashmir gave a highly-fractured verdict in which the PDP emerged as the single largest party throwing up different possibilities in government formation.

The National Conference (NC) suffered a defeat as it secured only 15 seats against 28 that it had won in the last elections.