Mufti sworn in J&KChief Minister |
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on March 1 took oath as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir in a ceremony that was also attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. While the PDP has eleven Cabinet ministers, including Mr. Sayeed himself, the BJP has six, including separatist-turned mainstream politician Sajjad Lone. The alliance, which has been termed by Mr. Sayeed as meeting of “North Pole and South Pole”, saw senior BJP leader Nirmal Singh being sworn in as a deputy chief minister. This is the second time Mr. Sayeed will be heading a coalition government. In 2002, he led a PDP-Congress alliance and was Chief Minister for three years. BJP and PDP, which have been in negotiations for nearly two months now, have ironed out all the differences over contentious issues including Article 370, Armed Forces Special Powers Act, resettlement of West Pakistan Refugees and holding talks with Pakistan and separatist leaders of the state. The PDP seems to have diluted its stand on controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) whereas the BJP has taken a complete U-turn on Article 370 which grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir and both the parties have left open the issue of rehabilitation of West Pakistan refugees while chalking out a common agenda for the alliance.
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