Jammu and Kashmir Government: BJP, PDP Announcement Likely Today

Srinagar:

Two months after Jammu and Kashmir voted, it is set to get a new government with ideological opposites Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the BJP expected to announce a coalition government.

Source said the new government headed by PDP chief Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, 79, is expected to be sworn in on Sunday, March 1 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi could attend.

This evening, the PDP's Mehbooba Sayeed will meet BJP chief Amit Shah in New Delhi as the two parties, sources said, finally reached a consensus on issues that they have been negotiating over for weeks.

A meeting between PM Modi and the Mr Mufti is expected tomorrow and a common minimum programme or CMP on the basis of which they will govern the state of Jammu and the Kashmir is likely to be released.

The two parties have had to bridge big gaps on issues that have divided them ideologically for decades. Sources said they have agreed to maintain the state's constitutional status - a key demand of Mr Mufti, who has firmly opposed any attempt to weaken Article 370, seen as vital for the state's autonomy by its residents. It makes the consent of the state government necessary for laws except those related to defence or national security.

The BJP has earlier spoken of the abrogation of Article 370, but none of its leaders mentioned it in their campaign speeches in the last election.

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On another contentious issue - the Armed Forces' Special Powers' Act or AFPSA which gives the army the authority to make arrests without warrants - the two parties have, in a significant breakthrough, agreed to the gradual replacement of the military with the local police and paramilitary forces  in areas where the security situation has improved, sources said.

In the Assembly polls held in December last year, the PDP was the single largest party with 28 seats in a hung house. The BJP was second with 25 seats in the 87-member House.

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