Efforts to revive the Bharatiya Janata Party-People's Democratic Party coalition in Jammu and Kashmir have hit a roadblock with BJP making it clear that government cannot be formed on the basis of conditions.
Sources said the sudden death of Sayeed leaves the BJP with little choice but to go with his obvious successor.
The BJP has already cobbled up 28 seats to counter-bargain with the PDP's 28 seats in future talks. It is up to the Kashmir-based parties like the National Conference and PDP to assess the damage of going with the BJP which is perceived as the 'Hindu' party in the state. Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com's takeways from a historic but fractured mandate in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Act deals with automatic disqualification of MPs and state legislators upon being convicted and sentenced for two years or more in a criminal case.
In first signs of ending the over a month-long impasse with regard to government formation in Jammu and Kashmir, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ram Madhav on Wednesday held formal talks with Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti during a brief visit in Srinagar.
The differences with the BJP over contentious issues like Article 370 and AFSPA have been ironed out.
The Congress has a lot to consider before taking a decision on which party to align with in Jammu and Kashmir, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti says.
PDP said the coalition will move forward on the basis of last year's 'Agenda of Alliance' which encompasses all issues -- political and economic.
The PDP said the party will take a call on government formation in the state as and when it is confident that it can fulfill the vision and mission of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.
The sources said consultations with some of the ministries have been undertaken and the state may soon witness the end of governor's rule.
BJP says it is sticking to the 'Agenda of Alliance'.
His father Somappa Rayappa Bommai was the state chief minister during 1988-1989.
The People's Democratic Party which has emerged as the single largest party in Jammu and Kashmir appears to be in the pole position to form the government in the 87 member Assembly. Rediff.com brings you images from the ground.
BJP has warned the government not to accept unreasonable demands of Mufti as it would endanger the security of the country.
Peoples Democratic Party leader Mehbooba Mufti, set to be the first woman Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, is likely to be sworn-in on April four.
The PDP led by former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti has decided to stay away from the delimitation process, saying the body lacks 'constitutional and legal mandate' and is part of the overall process of political disempowerment of people of Jammu and Kashmir.
She said and reasoned that the PDP-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance in the state needed a leader of the stature of Sayeed to run it.
In her maiden Independence Day address as Chief Minister, Mehbooba made an emotional appeal to the youth indulging in violence, telling them not to be misled by the "vested interests" who want to keep Kashmir burning, and prevent the beautiful valley from turning into another Syria or Afghanistan.
The Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chief, who was shifted to Tihar jail under police protection, was taken into preventive custody in February by the Jammu and Kashmir police and shifted to Jammu's Kot Balwal jail.
The terrorists opened fired and lobbed grenades at the Army camp in Meshwara area of Samba around 5:50 am, security officials said.
In its attempt to clinch majority in the 87-member Jammu and Kashmir assembly, Opposition Peoples Democratic Party is trying to make inroads in Jammu by raking up "regional discrimination" and secularism card to woo the Hindu voters of the region.
Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on Friday urged the Centre 'to make its dialogue process with Kashmiri separatist groups all inconclusive and not to resort to a pick and choose policy.'
Hitting back at the Peoples Democratic Party, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday accused its leader Mufti Mohammad Sayeed of "shutting his eyes" to the sex scandal when it first surfaced in 2006 as his own people were involved.
There were no signs of either the Peoples Democratic Party, the largest group, or the Bharatiya Janata Party, the close runner-up, getting the requisite numbers to stake claim to forming a new government in Jammu and Kashmir as the deadline set by Governor N N Vohra for discussions fast approached.
It said the BJP could cause trouble for the country by tying up with PDP.
Governor's rule was imposed in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday after political parties failed to muster the requisite number in the 87-member assembly for staking claim to form the government.
Putting an end to speculations on government formation in Jammu and Kashmir, Peoples Democratic Party patron and former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed on Saturday said "track two" dialogue with the Bharatiya Janata Party is in progress.
Congress on Sunday took a dig at the PDP-BJP alliance, saying that Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed should be "careful" about the conversion agenda being pursued by the saffron party.
On Teacher's Day, the teaching fraternity pledged to uphold the ban across the state.
"I will put the suggestion before the prime minister for free flow and use of Indian and Pakistani currencies in J&K and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in line with the proposal of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and in the pattern of European model," Sayeed said in Jammu.
'Alienation has to be addressed,' says Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister.
Sayeed, Abdullah and Bhat appeared together at the centenary celebrations of S P College where they studied 50 years ago.
From a Pakistan-trained militant to one of the prominent separatist faces in Kashmir, life has come a full circle for chief of the banned Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) Yasin Malik, who was in limelight for varied reasons over the past three decades of turmoil in the erstwhile restive border state.
Hailing the successful completion of four years of the Indo-Pak ceasefire, Peoples Democratic Party leader Mufti Mohammed Sayeed has called for free movement of people and goods on the road links between the two countries.
If Mehbooba is 'allowed' to survive unchecked she could transform her campaign into a sentiment typically suited to the ground conditions in Kashmir, observes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
Deputy Chief Minister Mangat Ram Sharma angers Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed over the use of 'improper' language while conversing with Chief Secretary Sudhir Belloria
The chief minister, however, said the bridge connecting Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to this side, Aman Setu, will take some time to be repaired.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has approved the project plan for the South Campus of Kashmir University for which over 15 hectares of land has been acquired at Fatehgarh near Anantnag.
