Mufti to sworn in as CM on March 1 ‘Govt with BJP is about to win the hearts of people’: Mehbooba

New Delhi, Feb 24, CNS:  People's Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti met BJP president Amit Shah in New Delhi on Tuesday to seal their deal on a Common Minimum Programme adopted by the two parties ahead of the formation of the government in Jammu and Kashmir.

     Mehbooba Mufti soon after meeting the BJP president informed the reporters that the government that will be formed in the State will not be about the power sharing but it will be about the winning of the hearts of Kashmiri people. With the assertion from Mehbooba Mufti, it was clear that PDP with the support of BJP will form the next government in Jammu and Kashmir.

    Sources informed CNS that 12 ministers six each from the both parties will be sworn in on March 1, the day when Mufti Muhammad Sayeed will be administered oath as the new chief minister of the State. Sources added that PDP members who will be sworn in as ministers are Abdul Rehman Veeri, Nayeem Akhtar, Syed Altaf Bukhari, Haseeb Drabu, Zulifkar Chodhri and Abdul Haq Khan. Dr Nirmal Singh from BJP will be the new Deputy Chief Minister while other BJP members who will be sworn in as the ministers will be Bali Bagat, Sham Chodhri, Abdul Gani Kohli, Kavinder Gupta and Sunil Sharma.

    The deal reached on Tuesday ended a two month-long negotiation between the two parties to iron out their differences over contentious issues like the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and Article 370 of the Indian Constitution which gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

   Sources in the BJP and the PDP said they have finalised their deal over the coalition government.The PDP, which emerged as the single largest party after the Assembly elections last year, had said it will not compromise on removing the AFSPA from Kashmir or making Article 370 inviolable. "Agree on all issues or there is no deal," Sayeed is reported to have told the BJP last week.

   The BJP's ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), had also rejected the 15-point Common Minimum Programme reportedly reached between the BJP and the PDP, calling it a "compromise" (CNS)