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Senior Congress leader Tariq Mohi-Ud-Din on Monday denied there was any resentment in the Congress over the choice of People's Democratic Party leader Mufti Mohammed Sayeed to head the PDP-Congress alliance in Jammu and Kashmir.
"It is a good step. Now onwards, restoration of peace and addressing the problem of growing unemployment in the state would be our priority," he said.
"No doubt we wanted a Congress chief minister. But we had left the decision to the high command. We will honour its decision and work with the PDP to restore peace in the state," said party general secretary Taj Mohi-ud-Din.
However, insiders insist there is still resentment among newly-elected Congress MLAs and other leaders who had been pressurising the high command for the first chief minister from Jammu. The majority of the Congress MLAs are from the Jammu region.
On the other hand, PDP supporters are jubilant. "This is a big victory for the people," shouted Tariq Hamid Qarra, general secretary of the PDP.
As soon as Congress president Sonia Gandhi announced on Sunday evening that Sayeed would head the PDP-Congress alliance, hundreds of PDP supporters began thronging the Nowgam residence of the Muftis to congratulate them.
"We will honour the verdict of the people, try to mitigate their hardship," said Qarra in between attending to phone calls from well-wishers and journalists.
"We have finalised the common minimum programme (CMP). We will work together for the betterment of the people. There won't be any problem between the PDP and the Congress," he said.
"I have full faith in Mufti Sahib. I hope this government will try to provide a healing touch to those who suffered in the past 12 years and also fulfill the promises made in the manifesto," said Mohammed Akbar, a PDP supporter.
"Sonia has taken the right decision. I hope our party and the Congress would work together to mitigate the hardship of the people," said another PDP supporter.
In another development, the state administration placed Hurriyat leaders under house arrest following reports that they may hold demonstrations in Srinagar.
The Hurriyat had called for a general strike in the Kashmir valley on Monday to coincide with the landing in 1947 of the first batch of Indian soldiers in Srinagar.
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