BJP, NC deny any meeting on government formation

Amid media speculations that the National Conference (NC) reached an agreement with the BJP on the government formation in Jammu and Kashmir, both the parties Thursday took to Twitter to issue a denial.

BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav, who held the charge of the Bharatiya Janata Party's election campaign in the state, in a tweet denied any meeting between the NC and the BJP leadership on the government formation.

"News about BJP leaders meeting NC leadership in Delhi (is) baseless."

NC leader and outgoing Chief Minister Omar Abdullah retweeted Ram Madhav's statement to deny any such meeting.

Media reports said Abdullah, who is in Delhi since Wednesday, met union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and BJP president Amit Shah.

The reports said the NC has reached a post-electoral alliance agreement with the BJP, according to which the BJP would get the chief minister's post for the full six-year term while Abdullah would join the union cabinet.

Asked to comment on the reports, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) spokesperson said the reports were being floated to mount pressure on the PDP to reach an early post-election agreement with the BJP.

"As of now, we have decided to wait and watch," the spokesperson told IANS.

The major hurdle, according to insiders, for the NC and the PDP coming to a working arrangement seems to be the BJP's demand to have a Hindu chief minister for the state.

Jammu and Kashmir got a hung assembly in the just concluded state polls, with the PDP becoming the single largest group and the BJP making history by finishing a close second. The verdict exposed the deep divide between the largely Muslim Kashmir Valley and Hindu-majority Jammu region.