Mehbooba to meet PM Modi in Delhi today

PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Monday flew to New Delhi, where she is likely to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday to discuss the government formation in Jammu and Kashmir.

Mehbooba’s sudden decision to leave for New Delhi, second time in a week, has rekindled hopes that the alliance between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and rightwing Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) may continue and the state may soon see an elected government.

Sources said soon after Mehbooba reached New Delhi, PDP legislators received a communication from the high command to get ready for a meeting on Thursday.

“We got a message to attend a party meeting on Thursday afternoon,” a senior PDP legislator confirmed to Deccan Herald. “I don’t have exact details of Thursday meeting, but it will surely be about government formation,” he said.

The



visit comes in the backdrop of the renewed efforts from both parties to reach out to each other and end the deadlock that had reached to almost point of no return on Thursday when talks between Mehbooba and BJP president Amit Shah ended without yielding any results.

The fresh development is believed to be the outcome of a late night meeting of BJP top brass in New Delhi on Sunday, chaired by Saffron party’s national general secretary Ram Madhav and attended by state BJP president Sat Sharma and former deputy chief minster Nirmal Singh.

Senior PDP and Mufti loyalist Nayeem Akhtar, when asked about Mehbooba’s sudden decision to fly to New Delhi, said, “Negotiations in politics are inevitable and doors can’t be shut.” However, he declined to comment when asked whether the PDP president is scheduled to meet the prime minister on Tuesday.