Mufti to be sworn in as J&K chief minister on March 1

It will be the first time the BJP will be a part of a government in J&K

People’s Democratic Party (PDP) patron Mufti Mohammed Sayeed will be sworn in as the chief minister of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-PDP coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir on March 1, BJP President Amit Shah and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti said on Tuesday.

It will be the first time the BJP will be a part of a government in J&K. The two parties will also release a common minimum programme (CMP) in the coming days. Shah and Mehbooba met for 45 minutes at the BJP chief’s residence. It was both a courtesy call by Mehbooba and a signal that the two parties have sorted their differences on CMP. Later, the two addressed a joint media conference. Mufti Mohammed Sayeed will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday.

“After several rounds of talks on different issues, there is near consensus on CMP and very soon the people of J&K will have a popular alliance government of PDP and BJP,” Shah said. He said all obstacles in government formation have been removed, while Mehbooba said the two parties have “fortunately” arrived at a consensus on crucial issues and adopted a “middle path”.

According to the arrangement between the two parties, the PDP patron will be the chief minister for a full six-year term, with BJP’s Nirmal Singh being the deputy CM. As for the CMP, leaders of the two parties said it should be read in totality and not in bits and pieces.

Sources said a committee will be constituted to go into whether AFSPA could be revoked from some of the areas of the Kashmir Valley. The BJP has also tempered its position on the repeal of Article 370, sources said.

The election to the J&K Assembly was held in November-December, with the counting of votes on December 23, throwing a hung House. The PDP emerged as the single largest party with 28 seats, while BJP bagged 25 in the 87-member Assembly.