SRINAGAR: Giving a new twist to the suspense over formation of the government in the Jammu and Kashmir, former Deputy Chief Minister and Senior Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Muzaffar Hussain Baig on Friday observed that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) cannot change the “rules of the game at this moment’ by seeking rotational Chief Minister or more berths in the ministry.
The statement assumes significance as after ten months of hibernation, Muzaffar Hussain Baig, who is Member Parliament from north Kashmir has come in the midst of PDP politics.
He said, “BJP must stick to whatever it had agreed upon regarding the Chief Minister’s post and Cabinet portfolios.”
Talking to reporters at PDP President, Mehbooba Mufti’s Fairview residence at Gupkar road, Baig stressed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and BJP President Amit Shah had given “good signals” for the smooth transition of power. Baig said besides the two top leaders, BJP President Amit Shah had also rung up Mehbooba to express solidarity with her.
Meanwhile, BJP on Friday held two meetings to discuss the new government formation, the first chaired by the party’s State President, Sat Sharma in the morning and the second by BJP’s National General Secretary, Ram Madhav in the evening. Baig, a legal luminary and a constitutional expert said the State would not face any “constitutional crisis” but only witness a “constitutional arrangement” without a Chief Minister in office.
“The State will come under the care-taker Governor’s rule, which isn’t a regular Governor’s rule,” he said. Baig said unlike in the regular Governor’s rule, under the care-taker Governor’s rule, the Governor cannot appoint advisors or issue orders or issue any ordinances.