The PDP and the BJP —the he two ideologically opposite parties now running the coalition Government in Jammu & Kashmir — have worked out a coordination committee, comprising four members from each side to ensure there is no deviation from the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) and the power-sharing formula agreed by them. Among others, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti and BJP’s Jugal Kishore Sharma will be on the panel.
The post of the Speaker will go to BJP with its MlA Kavinder Gupta to be the ruling PDP-BJP alliance’s choice for the chair. BJP leaders said their party in J&K has bagged important portfolio like power, industry, commerce and infrastructure. They said power was one of the most significant portfolios and that the State has already been allocated a coal mine in Madhya Pradesh.
On the probability of Mehbooba joining NDA or PM Modi’s Council of Ministers at the Centre, sources said, “Today she is not, tomorrow it is possible.” Asked how the PDP-BJP is expected to tackle separatists in the valley, sources in the BJP maintained that the State Government “would hold discussion with all internal stakeholders, including Hurriyats”. When further quizzed on the Hurriyats “separatist agenda”, they quipped, “Which one, there are many Hurriyats.”
How would the State Government respond to the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi inviting Hurriyat leadersIJ To this sources said the issue would be dealt with by the Central Government and not the State dispensation.