The People's Democratic Party (PDP), which emerged as the party with the largest number of seats in the recently-held assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, has reportedly rejected the offer of support from the National Conference (NC) to form a government in the state.
As a result, prospects for resolving the existing political stalemate in the state have dimmed.
On Wednesday, both parties were engaged in a war or words, a day after the National Conference's Working President, Omar Abdullah, wrote to State Governor N.N. Vohra to inform him about his party's desire to formally extend support to the PDP.
PDP has secured 28 seats in the 87-member House, while the NC secured 15. The former has reportedly made it clear that the offer of support from the latter is unacceptable.
Its spokesperson Naeem Akhtar was quoted by media, as saying in Srinagar that the people had voted against the NC, and therefore joining with it was out of the question.
The NC thereafter said that it can still offer outside support to the PDP. It has also been reported that the PDP and BJP are still engaged in talks.