Headlines
PDP, BJP reach agreement, Mufti to be J&K CM
Jammu, Feb 21
PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed
will be the Jammu and Kashmir chief minister after his party reached an
agreement for forming a government with the BJP, top party sources said
Saturday.
Sources close to PDP patron Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, who
returned to winter capital Jammu Friday after spending a week in
Mumbai, told IANS an agreement had been reached on all contentious
issues between the PDP and the BJP.
"Yes, main agreement has been
reached on the draft of the CMP (common minimum programme) on
contentious issues like article 370, armed forces special powers act
(AFSPA) and the plight of West Pakistan refugees.
"It has been
agreed that without any written reference to it, both the parties would
respect the wishes of the people of the state in consonance with the
constitution of the country with regard to article 370," a top party
source told IANS.
As per the agreement, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed will be the chief minister for the full six years.
The
PDP insider who is engaged with the BJP in the dialogue process on
government formation on behalf of his party also said instead of
accepting the demand that the AFSPA should be revoked from the entire
state within one year, it has now been agreed by the two parties that a
committee would be formed which would recommend gradual, but timely,
revocation of the act from areas in the state.
Sources in the BJP
said: "The PDP has agreed to the BJP demand that the CMP should accept
that the problems faced by West Pakistan refugees should not be
politicized, but treated as a humanitarian issue that needs to be
addressed on humanitarian grounds."
When asked to comment on
media reports that government formation in the state was imminent
because the PDP and the BJP had agreed on the draft of the common
minimum programme (CMP) for governance, party chief spokesman Naeem
Akhtar told IANS in winter capital Jammu: "I am meeting Mufti Sahib
today and if anything has been worked out, we will hold a briefing about
it during the day."
Unlike his steady dismissal of any agreement
with the BJP during the last nearly two months when he maintained the
"structured dialogue between the BJP and the PDP had not even started",
Akhtar sounded less circumspect Saturday about his lack of knowledge
regarding an agreement on the common minimum programme with the BJP.
West
Pakistan refugees are those over 25,000 families who came to the state
after the India-Pakistan wars of 1947, 1965 and 1971.
Since these
people were not citizens of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir as
it existed before accession to India in 1947, they cannot vote in the
state assembly elections, nor buy property in the state.
These
refugees cannot apply for government jobs since all the state government
jobs in Jammu and Kashmir are reserved for permanent residents of the
state.
As an anomaly, the West Pakistan refugees can vote in the
parliament elections, but not in the state assembly elections since the
state has a constitution of its own in addition to the country's
constitution and both apply concomitantly to the state.
With
regard to the PDP demand on return of NHPC owned hydro-electric power
projects in the state to state ownership, the sources said it had been
agreed that the two would work together for central assistance for state
ownership of these projects.
"The nuts and bolts job has been
completed. All that now remains is an announcement on the agreement
between the two which could be made within the next two to three days,"
said sources.
The sources added that Mufti Mohammaad Sayeed would
formally call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the PDP and the BJP
announce having formalized the draft of the CMP.