Govt formation efforts hit dead end: PDP

Efforts to form a government in Jammu and Kashmir have hit a dead end as the BJP has refused to accept the demands of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), PDP sources said.

A senior PDP leader close to party chief Mehbooba Mufti told IANS that the negotiations between the two parties had “hit a dead end” and the PDP was unlikely to form a government again with the BJP.

Another PDP leader who spoke to IANS said he was not authorised to speak on the subject.

The PDP comments came as Bharatiya Janata Party general secretary Ram Madhav announced that it was not possible to form a coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir on PDP’s conditions.

“It’s not possible to form a government on (PDP) conditions,” Madhav told the media. “We are not ready to accept any new demand.”

He spoke a day after Mehbooba Mufti met BJP president Amit Shah.

Jammu and Kashmir has been without an elected government after Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed died on January 7 and the state came under Governor’s Rule.

The PDP and BJP formed a coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir in March 2015 after assembly elections threw up a fractured mandate.