STATE TIMES NEWS
New Delhi: Amid strain in ties with Pakistan, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and urged him de-escalate tension along the border besides reach out to the people of the state with “tangible” confidence building measures to address their political, economic and developmental concerns.
During the meeting, the first after army carried out ‘surgical strikes’ on September 29 across the Line of Control (LoC) in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK), the Chief Minister discussed with the Prime Minister the law and order situation and that prevailing along the border following soaring tension in the region, a state government spokesman said.
“The people in Kashmir have gone through enormous agony and pain and the time has come to reach out to them and apply a balm to their wounds through ample initiatives at political, economic and developmental levels,” she told the Prime Minister.
She impressed upon the Prime Minister the need to view the current situation as an opportunity and start a dialogue process with the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
“I hope that the Prime Minister, who has received such a big mandate, takes this situation as an opportunity and reaches out to the people of the state by starting a productive dialogue process to end the miseries of the people in the state,” the spokesman quoted her as having said. While expressing grave concern over the prevailing situation along the border, the Chief Minister called for de-escalation of the tension as people in the state have been the worst sufferers of the hostilities and confrontation in the region.
“Today also hundreds of families have to migrate from the border areas of the state and they suffer immense hardships because of the prevailing tense situation in the region,” she said and stressed the need for reviving the peace and reconciliation process.
She also discussed the overall developmental scenario in the state and measures being taken to expedite the implementation of projects under the Rs 80,000 crore Prime Minister s Developmental Programme.
Likely reshuffle of Mehbooba ministry soon
New Delhi: The five-month-old Mehbooba Mufti government in Jammu and Kashmir is likely to be expanded soon with the induction of two PDP MLAs as ministers.
The issue came up for discussion when Mehbooba Mufti called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday. Immediately afterwards, BJP president Amit Shah met her and the two were also understood to have discussed the issue.
As per the arrangement between the two parties, PDP would have 14 ministers, including the Chief Minister, while BJP would have 11, that would include the Deputy Chief Minister. According to sources in the know of the developments, PDP MLA from Amira Kadal constituency Altaf Bukhari is likely to stage a comeback. Bukhari, who was a minister in the Mufti Mohammed Sayeed government, was not included in the cabinet when Mehbooba was sworn-in as the Chief Minister on April four this year. Mehbooba was also likely to induct an MLA from the restive South Kashmir in the ministry.
Besides Bukhari, Javid Mustafa Mir and two Ministers of State Mohammad Ashraf Mir and Abdul Majeed Padroo, who were part of the previous government led by her father Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, had been dropped.
The BJP was likely to drop one of its ministers and replace him with a legislator from the Kashmiri Pandit community, the sources said. The state can have a maximum of 25 ministers and its current strength is 23.
