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Mehbooba Mufti breaks down at lawmakers' meet, remains silent on taking over

by IBNS 11 Jan 2016, 07:00 am

Srinagar, Jan 11 (IBNS) People's Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti broke down as she met party lawmakers on Sunday evening after a four-day mourning for her father and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed ended.

Reports said  Mufti, who is expected to take over as the state's first woman chief minister, told the PDP legislators to go back to their constituencies and work to strengthen the party. She did not say anything on formation of government.

Jammu and Kashmir has been under a brief spell of Governor's Rule since Friday as  Mufti chose not to be sworn in immediately after her father's death. The state's constitution provides that the post of chief minister cannot be vacant.

A seven-day state mourning ends on Wednesday, but  Mufti reportedly declined to take oath all of this week.

The delay has set off speculation about a political realignment in the state, particularly after Mufti had a brief meeting with  Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Sunday when the latter came to  offer condolences.and stressed that they are close family friends.

The PDP, which partnered last year with the BJP to run the state following a fractured mandate in the assembly elections, is a former ally of the Congress.

 The PDP had won the most seats at 28, but was 16 short of a simple majority in the 87-member assembly. The BJP had captured  25 seats.

The Congress has 12 seats in J&K and Omar Abdullah's National Conference has 15. There are four Independent MLAs and two from other parties.