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Mufti
Sayeed steps down as Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister
by Bilal Butt
Srinagar:
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on
Saturday handed over his resignation to the state Governor Lt.
General (Retd) S. K. Sinha. He will be replaced by Union Urban
Development and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad
in line with a power-sharing pact signed between the People's
Democratic Party (PDP) and the Congress Party in 2002. "This
coalition has been working effectively in Jammu and Kashmir.
If considering the restored sense of security and faith among
the people, the United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia
Gandhi had offered me, I would have continued as CM, but I am
not surprised at not getting an extension. All is happening
according to our agreement," said Sayeed before entering the
Governor's official residence. Both Sayeed and his daughter
Mehbooba Mufti pledged to support to the new administration
under Azad.
Meanwhile,
the Congress has assured that the change of guard in the state
is not going to affect the peace process with Pakistan. "The
Congress led government will fulfil the Common Minimum Programme
on which the coalition government in the state is supposed to
work. The main agenda for our government is to forward the peace
process and to bring permanent peace in the state," said Azad.
Reacting to a statement given by the Hurriyat leader Ansari
in which he said that now Jammu and Kashmir would be ruled from
the Centre, Azad said this fact would have positive results,
particularly in intensifying the relief and rehabilitation operations
in the state. Azad said that relief and rehabilitation in the
quake-ravaged regions remained one of the immediate top priorities
of his government. He also denied reports of strained relationship
between the PDP and the Congress over the transfer of power.
The PDP has said that it will be holding a meeting of its legislators
on October 30 to choose ministers from the party for the new
ministry. The meeting will also decide the nominee for the post
of Deputy Chief Minister, which will now go to the PDP under
the power-sharing agreement. PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, Finance
Minister Muzaffar Hussain Beigh and Tourism Minister Ghulam
Hassan Mir are among the contenders for this post. The PDP has
also convened a meeting on October 31 to discuss the party's
future course of action. Congress legislators too will meet
on November 1 to formally elect Ghulam Nabi Azad as their leader.
The two parties had agreed in 2002 to share power on a three-year
rotation basis in the six-term of the Assembly after the elections
produced a hung verdict. Under the power sharing agreement between
the allies, Sayeed's governing PDP was to transfer control of
government to the Congress on November 2, after completing three
years in office to pave way for the coalition partner to head
the alliance government. While earlier there were reports that
the Congress was preferring to delay the transfer of power,
the PDP was pushing for a quick decision. It had said that uncertainty
in the matter was causing confusion in the state's administration
and seriously affecting the quake relief operations. Assembly
polls in J and K are held every six years, as against other
states that go to polls every five years. Following the 2002
elections, which no party could secure a majority, the Congress,
the PDP and the Panthers Party, entered into an alliance to
keep the then NDA ally and ruling party the National Conference
out of power. The NC could win only 28 seats in the polls, which
was almost half of its strength in the previous assembly.
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