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Onkar Singh in Srinagar
Ghulam Nabi Azad, president of the Jammu & Kashmir Congress Committee, has said that his party remains open to talks with the People's Democratic Party.
Speaking to reporters in Srinagar before a crucial meeting of the newly elected Congress legislators to choose their leader, Azad said the ideal situation would be for the Congress and the PDP to join hands and form the new government.
He said that since the Congress is a national party ruling 14 states, it would be in the interests of Jammu & Kashmir for the party to lead the government in Srinagar as well.
But, he added, PDP chairman Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has not accepted this arrangement. "So we told him that we would need to ascertain the views of our MLAs as well."
Azad also indicated that there are some issues that the Congress has to sort out to have a common minimum programme with the PDP.
Asked if he has the numbers to go it alone and form the government, Azad said he would like to go step by step rather than jump the gun.
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