PDP veteran Mufti Mohammed Sayeed was today sworn-in as Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir heading a coalition with BJP which, in a clear departure from its earlier stand, agreed to maintain status quo on Article 370 in the common agenda for governance.
79-year-old Sayeed, who returns as Chief Minister after a gap of over nine years, was administered oath of office and secrecy by Governor N N Vohra along with 24 ministers including separatist-turned-politician Sajjad Lone was accommodated from the BJP quota.
Nirmal Singh of BJP, who will be the new Deputy Chief Minister of the state, was second after Sayeed to take oath. This is the first time that BJP will be part of the government in the only Muslim-majority state of the country.
Swearing-in of the new government ended 49 days of Governor's rule in the state. In all, 13 MLAs including Sayeed from the PDP and 12 MLAs from BJP and Peoples Conference combine were sworn-in as ministers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP President Amit Shah, veteran leaders L K Advani, Murli Manohar Josh, BJP general secretary Ram Madhav and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar attended the ceremony which took place at the Jammu University's General Zorawar Singh Auditorium.
Addressing a press conference with Singh, Sayeed cited former Prime Minister V P Singh, saying "politics is the art of the possible, even when there are contradictions." He had earlier termed the coalition as a meeting of "North Pole and the South Pole".
Sayeed stoked a controversy immediately after taking oath, saying credit must be given to "people from across the border", an oblique reference to Pakistan, Hurriyat and militant outfits, for "allowing conducive atmosphere" for the Assembly polls, a statement which drew sharp reaction from NC leader Omar Abdullah.
"I want to say this on record and I have told this to the Prime Minister that the we must credit the Hurriyat, militant outfits for the conduct of assembly elections in the state," he said.
"People from across the border allowed conducive atmosphere during elections. My humble submission is peaceful elections were not possible, if they had done something. You know how small action was needed to disturb the elections. They allowed this democratic process to go ahead. This gives us a hope," he added.
Releasing a 16-page "Agenda of the Alliance", outlining their common minimum programme, both parties agreed to maintain status quo on Article 370, which gives special status to the state.
