Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Jitendra Singh on Friday said that the joining of hands between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the People's Democratic Party (PDP) to form the government in Jammu and Kashmir should be seen as a 'historic opportunity, adding that any other alliance would have been the violation of the mandate given by the people.
"This is a historic occasion and a historic opportunity. This is the best decision that could have happened, given the kind of mandate that has been thrown by the state of Jammu and Kashmir," said Singh.
"And the mandate was clearly in favour of PDP from Kashmir Valley and clearly in favour of BJP from Jammu region. Therefore, any other alliance would have been violation of the mandate obtained from the people," he added.
Singh, who is the MP from Udhampur, further said both the BJP and PDP have shown great maturity by arriving at a consensus to form the government in Jammu and Kashmir.
"I think, to that extent, this has been great maturity on part of both the sides to have arrived at the Common Minimum Ground, to give the people of the state an agenda based on development, and development based on equitable distribution and growth of all the three regions of the state," he added.
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Meanwhile, BJP leader Ram Madhav said the swearing-in ceremony of the new government in Jammu and Kashmir will take place on March 1.
"As Mufti (Mohammed Sayeed) told you all, that PDP- BJP is now preparing to form the government in Jammu and Kashmir. The swearing-in ceremony of the new government will take place on March 1," Madhav said.
"Both parties have reached a consensus on the Common Minimum Programme. The announcement in this regard will be made during the swearing-in ceremony," he added.
Earlier in the day, PDP patron Mufti Mohammed Sayeed met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the latter's official 7, Race Course Road (RCR) residence here.
After the meeting, Mufti told the media that Prime Minister Modi has accepted the invitation to attend his swearing-in ceremony on March 1.
The assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir threw up a hung verdict with the PDP emerging as the single-largest party winning 28 seats.
The BJP won 25 seats, while the National Conference and Congress won 15 and 12 seats respectively.
