Srinagar/Jammu

Jammu and Kashmir must have a BJP-led government, party general secretary Ram Madhav said Thursday, adding he was here to explore the various options.

Ram Madhav, who arrived in the afternoon, told reporters: “The BJP has the mandate to lead the government in Jammu and Kashmir. I am here to explore the options.”

He added that he was meeting representatives from different parties but did not provide details.

“We are open to discussions, and meetings can be had with the prime minister also in this regard,” he added, two days after the BJP emerged as the second largest group in a hung 87-member Jammu and Kashmir assembly.

The Peoples Democratic Party has 28 seats, the National Conference 15, the Congress 12 and the Bharatiya Janata Party 25 seats.

BJP sources told IANS that talks between the National Conference and the Bharatiya Janata Party had hit a major roadblock because of the BJP’s insistence on having a Hindu chief minister.

The National Conference, the sources said, was ready to support and even join a BJP-led coalition on the condition that the BJP gives up its demand for a Hindu chief minister.

At the same time, the PDP, while keeping its options open vis-a-vis the BJP, had sent feelers to Sajad Lone that he could be a deputy chief minister if he supported a PDP-Congress coalition, the sources said.

Sajad Lone’s People’s Conference has won two seats.

Another independent, Hakim Yaseen, has denied media reports that he had announced support for a BJP-led government.

Seven independents have also been elected to the assembly. A group of parties will need the support of 44 members to form a government.

BJP wants to rule Kashmir – with Hindu chief minister

The BJP declared Thursday that it was determined to govern Jammu and Kashmir amid speculation that the National Conference would ally with it if the BJP didn’t insist on a Hindu chief minister for the country’s only Muslim-majority state.

BJP leaders Arun Jaitley and Ram Madhav made known the party’s intentions separately in Jammu and Srinagar, with the latter saying he was in the state to explore various options on government formation after elections led to a hung 87-member assembly.

The BJP and the National Conference, the second and third largest groups in the house with 25 and 15 members, denied they were in secret talks. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which won 28 seats, was reportedly looking at both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress as possible allies.

Jammu and Kashmir must have a BJP-led government, party general secretary Ram Madhav said, adding he was in Srinagar to explore the various options.

Ram Madhav told reporters: “The BJP has the mandate to lead the government in Jammu and Kashmir. I am here to explore the options.”

He added that he was meeting representatives from different parties but did not provide details.

“We are open to discussions, and meetings can be had with the prime minister also in this regard,” he added, two days after the BJP emerged as the second largest group in the Kashmir assembly for the first time.

BJP sources told IANS that talks between the National Conference and the BJP had hit a roadblock because of the BJP’s insistence on having a Hindu chief minister.

In Jammu, Finance Minister Jaitley said the BJP would play a prominent role in government formation and the decision on its exact nature had been left to party president Amit Shah.

Briefing reporters after meeting newly-elected BJP legislators, Jaitley underlined that his party got the largest popular vote in the state though it contested from only 76 of the 87 constituencies.

He said the BJP was in touch with “independent and unattached” legislators.

“Whatever government is formed, the BJP should have a prominent role in the political process as the popular mandate in terms of highest vote is with us,” he said.

The National Conference, the sources said, was ready to support and even join a BJP-led coalition on the condition that the BJP gives up its demand for a Hindu chief minister.

At the same time, the PDP, while keeping its options open vis-a-vis the BJP, had sent feelers to Sajad Lone that he could be a deputy chief minister if he backed a PDP-Congress coalition, the sources said.

Sajad Lone’s People’s Conference has won two seats. Congress candidates were elected from 15 constituencies.

Another independent, Hakim Yaseen, has denied media reports that he had announced support for a BJP-led government.

Seven independents have also been elected to the assembly. A group of parties will need the support of 44 members to form a government.

Earlier, Ram Madhav denied a meeting had taken place between the National Conference and the BJP leadership.

Outgoing Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who has been in New Delhi since Wednesday, retweeted Ram Madhav’s statement.

Some reports say the BJP would get the chief minister’s post for a full six years while Abdullah would join the union cabinet led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A PDP spokesperson said the reports were meant to mount pressure on it to reach an early post-election agreement with the BJP. “As of now, we have decided to wait and watch,” the spokesperson told IANS.

All the BJP legislators were elected from the Hindu-majority Jammu region while almost all PDP and National Conference legislators won from the largely Muslim Kashmir Valley.

Govt formation in JK remains a puzzle

A section of PDP leaders, including some newly-elected MLAs from Srinagar district, have opposed an alliance with the BJP saying it will be detrimental to the party interests in the long run.

“We fought the elections on the basis of protecting the special status of Jammu and Kashmir along with providing good governance and development. Here we are today considering an alliance with BJP, a party that is diametrically opposite to our core stand,” a PDP leader said on the condition of anonymity.

The PDP leader said the party had just found acceptability in Srinagar district and an alliance with BJP can shut the door on it for all times to come.

However, PDP’s Lok Sabha member from Baramulla Muzaffar Hussain Baig came out in support of an alliance between his party and BJP.

“BJP has 25 members and represents the Jammu region and we represent the Kashmir valley. (PM Narendra) Modi and Mufti (Mohammad Sayeed) are the tallest leaders from the two parties and they should talk to each other,” he said.

Baig, however, was categorical that Sayeed should lead the proposed alliance for the entire term of six years, a condition that BJP might not be agreeable to and push the national party towards National Conference.

A second rung National Conference leader said there was a possibility of revolt with the party ranks, at least in Srinagar District, if an alliance with BJP came to fruition.

“Ideally, every politician wants to be with the ruling dispensation. But if National Conference decides to ally with the BJP, people like me will have to reconsider our association with the oldest political party of the state,” the NC leader, who requested not to be named, said.

He said too premature to talk about an NC-BJP alliance as party’s working president Omar Abdullah has denied meeting the leaders of the national party.

“A meeting of NC leadership is likely tomorrow where we shall come to know what course of action our party is pursuing,” he added.

The emerging situation on the political scene is indicative of a long drawn process for government formation in the state.

NC rules out tie-up with BJP

Scotching speculation that it may support BJP in forming a new Government in Jammu and Kashmir, National Conference(NC) tonight ruled out such a possibility citing fundamental differences between the two parties.

“We don’t believe in marriage of convenience and sacrificing our fundamental principles,” a Jammu-based senior leader of NC said requesting anonymity.

The comments by the leader came as BJP, the second largest party with 25 members in the incoming 87-member Assembly, first explored the option of tying up with NC which has 15 MLAs. The leadership of the two parties is believed to have held discussions which made no headway.

There were persistent reports that the outgoing Chief Minister and NC working President Omar Abdullah met BJP President Amit Shah in New Delhi last night but BJP denied that.

The Jammu-based NC leader, who ruled out the tie-up, made it clear that his party had strong fundamental differences with BJP and that the possibility of NC joining hands with the saffron party was “next to nil”.

Stating that NC was not power hungry, the leader said the party had earlier sat in opposition between 2002 and 2008.

This was also borne out by brief comments of Omar who insisted that his surprise offer to support PDP, NC’s arch rival, stood and he was waiting for PDP to respond. “The offer made to PDP is a serious one and was not made lightly. It was for them to take a call,” he told PTI.

Senior BJP leader and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley flew to Jammu to meet the newly elected party MLAs and said thereafter that his party would play a crucial role in government formation as it had the highest popular vote(23 per cent).

The BJP had the “veto power”, said Jaitley who was accompanied by party General Secretary Ram Madhav. He later flew here tonight to explore possibilities of government formation.

Meanwhile, PDP, which has remained silent since the polls results came three days ago, had started exploring the possibility of a coalition government with Congress which has 12 members and other independent candidates.

BJP, on its part, also started approaching PDP with Madhav meeting People’s Conference leader Sajad Lone at a hotel in Kashmir and PDP leader and MP Muzzafar Hussain Baig at his residence.

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