Mufti, Modi discuss government formation

PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed met Prime Minister Narendra Modi here Friday to finalize the formation of a PDP-BJP government in Jammu and Kashmir.

"I met the prime minister today, and this is an opportunity for both of us to work together," Mufti told journalists after the meeting held at the prime minister's official residence.

The meeting took place after the Peoples Democratic Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party sorted out their differences over a common minimum programme to guide the functioning of the new government.

Sayeed said he and Modi discussed various issues regarding the state. He refused to divulge the portfolios the two parties were likely to keep.

"All of them will be made public on the day of the swearing in ceremony. There have been issues in Jammu and Kashmir and we have to build up a good government in the state," he said.

A former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Sayeed said the prime minister underlined the need to bring peace in the troubled state. "He has a dream of making it an island of peace," Sayeed said.

Sayeed told Modi that it was important to make Pakistan a part of the peace building process in Jammu and Kashmir.

The PDP has 28 members in the hung 87-member Jammu and Kashmir assembly. An independent legislator, elected from Zanskar in Ladakh region, has joined the party.

The BJP has 25 members. Two legislators of the People's Conference headed by former militant Sajad Gani Lone have announced support to it.

Jitendra Singh, the minister of state in the Prime Minister's Office, said it was beauty of democracy that two parties with differences of views on some issues had joined hands to provide a stable government.

"There was no better alternative to respect the mandate of the people. That the two parties have agreed to disagree on certain issues is also a big thing," Jitendra Singh told IANS.

He said the two parties will have equal partnership in the government.