Ready to form govt if people are made stakeholders in peace process: Mufti

Srinagar: Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti said on Sunday that the government formation in Jammu and Kashmir will not take time if the people of the State are made stakeholders in peace process and she is convinced that she can "fulfill the dreams" of her late father and former Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.

She said “only time can tell" when asked by reporters if there was any forward movement in talks between her party and alliance partner BJP for government formation in the State. Ms. Mufti had had an one-on-one meeting with BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav here earlier this week.

Madhav, one of the architects of the PDP-BJP alliance, had arrived here from Delhi in a chartered plane at 5 PM on Wednesday and straightway drove to ‘Fairview’, the official residence of Ms. Mufti, and after holding the meeting with her, flew back to the national capital late that night. Though both the alliance partners had tried to keep it a closely guarded secret, former Chief Minister and National Conference working president, Omar Abdullah, broke news on Twitter.com.

Mr. Mufti is likely to hold another round of talks with Mr. Madhav and also meet other senior BJP leaders in Delhi next week to discuss the government formation issue as she is flying to the national capital on Monday to attend the budget session of Parliament.

She said, "The Parliament session is starting on Feb 23. I’m going to attend it. I’ve asked questions.” She, however, was not sure if the Opposition would allow Parliament to function smoothly. "There are issues like JNU, which is unfortunate, Haryana (Jat agitation), we don't know what will happen in Parliament," she said.

Earlier while speaking at a function here at which PDP’s state-wide membership drive was launched, Ms. Mufti without mentioning BJP said that alighting with the saffron party was a sacrifice on part of her father and PDP patron Mr. Sayeed. “Yes, it was sacrifice on part of my father but he would never make U-turns,” she asserted adding “My father never ran after power and chair. These things did not matter for him but he worked for people and for that he would never tread easy paths.”

She said, “I’ve been listening for last one and a half months about government formation but I want to tell all of them that if the mission, vision and agenda of Mufti Sahib are taken forward, government formation will take no time. But amid encounters, killings it is not possible. ” She added, “If we feel, we can fulfill the dreams of Mufti Sahib then only it is worth it. If the situation continues as it is, then my inheritance (the people of the state) is enough for me."

Asking people not to lose hope, she said, “My father symbolised hope and satisfaction. His legacy is not chief minister’s chair but the people of J&K”. She also said, “Mufti Sahib did not care for power and when he was asked about his joining hands with BJP and the costs it had for PDP, he replied ‘there will be no loss, another party may win next elections but I want to work for my people.’ ”

She said, “Our party has established clear political priorities and we would continue our struggle to seek resolution of the multiple problems faced by Jammu and Kashmir on political, economic, administrative and financial fronts.” PDP, she asserted,  set forth on an affirmative journey in 1999 under the leadership of Mr. Sayeed “to change the course of Jammu and Kashmir for better”.

She said the Pathankot terror attack seems to have proved a spanner in the renewed peace efforts with Pakistan but expressed the hope that New Delhi and Islamabad would continue to try to narrow differences as it was the people of Jammu and Kashmir who have and continue to suffer the most because of the hostility in the region.