Poor get poorer
As always, given the inequities built into the global economic system, the poorest people in the world have been the…
Sources in New Delhi on Thursday said the National Conference and the Bharatiya Janata Party are on the verge of reaching a deal in the run up to the formation of the next government in Jammu and Kashmir, where the Assembly elections threw a fractured verdict.
According to the deal, the Omar Abdullah-led party will get the Deputy Chief Minister post , one Rajya Sabha seat and one Cabinet berth at the Centre. There has been no confirmation from the two parties, with senior BJP leader Ram Madhav denying any meeting between the two parties on Twitter.
But Headlines Today reported that the former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister met BJP president Amit Shah and Union Minister Arun Jaitley in New Delhi on Thursday, triggering speculation over whether the two parties are exploring options to form the state government together.
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On Wednesday, Omar Abdullah signalled his intention to stake claim to form the government despite a weak mandate for the National Conference in the just-concluded Assembly elections, which threw a fractured verdict. The BJP won 25 seats while the National Conference won 15 seats in the 87-member Assembly, four seats short of a simple majority if the two come together. The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) emerged as the single largest party with 28 seats.
The BJP says it has support of at least five independents, which means Shah’s ambitious plan to have a BJP chief minister in Jammu and Kashmir may well turn into a reality.
"Incidentally in 2002, Mufti (PDP leader Mufti Mohammad Sayeed) became CM (chief minister) with 16 MLAs (members of legislature) and NC with 28 sat in opposition, so excuse me if I don’t oblige by rolling over to play dead," Abdullah said in a tweet on Wednesday.
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