The Congress Party along with two major regional powers of Jammu and Kashmir – People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and National Conference (NC) have discussed the possibility of meeting the governor to stake claim to form the government.
Altaf Bukhari, senior PDP leader and former finance minister of J&K, said on Wednesday that the party leadership has conveyed to him that an alliance will be formed with Congress party and NC. Bukhari had a meeting with former chief minister Omar Abdullah at his residence on Gupkar road, following which he spoke to the media.
“This is a move to safeguard the special status of the state. Between 55 and 60 MLAs are with us,” the PDP leader said. “Our identity is under attack. Articles 370 and 35A are under attack.”
This statement is the first public confirmation from the PDP that the party has agreed to form a coalition government with its arch-rival, the NC. The PDP was in alliance with the Congress between 2002 and 2008. Earlier, political leaders from the three parties had told The Wire that their leaders have held week-long “informal meetings” to chalk out a strategy to form a government. A senior Congress leader told The Wire that the parties also discussed the possibility of the “Centre not dissolving the state assembly and avoiding fresh elections”.Other key agendas of the said meetings include important roles taken up by key leaders of the three parties – both before and after the possible government formation.
“We have had several informal meetings with the two parties (NC and PDP) this week and there are many reasons for this. The governor has hinted at keeping a status quo, which means he will not dissolve the assembly and keep it in an animated state, thus avoiding a fresh election. President’s rule will be imposed soon and it would have been ideal to dissolve the assembly but this has not happened. Instead, the BJP is attempting to break regional political parties and form a new alliance,” the leader said.
