Mufti Mohammad Sayeed-led govt to be sworn in; PM Modi to attend ceremony

Mufti Mohammad Sayeed will be sworn-in as the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir for the second time on Sunday heading the Peoples Democratic Party-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition government.

The new government is slated to have 24 ministers, besides Mufti with a dozen each from the two parties, according to sources.

BJP’S Nirmal Singh will be the deputy chief minister. Both Mufti and Singh will have a six-year term, a departure from the previous practice of the PDP-Congress coalition which had rotational chief minister with three year term in 2002.

This is for the second time that Mufti will be heading a coalition government in the state after a fractured mandate in the recently held state assembly polls in which his party got 28 seats while the BJP finished second with 25 seats in the 87 member state assembly.

Political observers here opine that Mufti will have to exhibit a political acumen of highest degree making the coalition workable as convergence of political agendas of the two parties in the state is fraught with difficult challenges.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is arriving in winter Jammu on Sunday morning to attend the oath taking ceremony which will be attended by other BJP leaders and chief ministers of the two neighbouring states, Punjab and Haryana.

The state governor, N N Vohra this afternoon invited Mufti to form the next government in the state following the PDP-BJP staking claim to form the next government in the state under Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.

An official statement said, “Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had also addressed the governor to inform him that the PDP and BJP have decided to form a coalition government with a joint strength of 53 members in the 87 member House and that the coalition government would thus enjoy an absolute majority in the legislative assembly, which would enable it to provide a stable government in the state.”

Security has been beefed up in winter capital Jammu ahead of the swearing-in ceremony to be held at General Zorawar Singh auditorium on Sunday.