The Hindu : Sonia calls meet today

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Oct 22, 2002

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Sonia calls meet today

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI OCT. 21. With the People's Democratic Party (PDP) president, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, refusing to give up his claim for Chief Ministership, the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, has called a meeting of senior party leaders tomorrow to discuss government-formation in Jammu and Kashmir.

This was decided late this evening after the leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Manmohan Singhand the J&K Congress president, Ghulam Nabi Azad, briefed her about their latest rounds of talks with the PDP president in Srinagar. While senior party leaders refused to say whether a final decision would be taken at the meeting, indications are that the leadership will decide whether to continue with the ongoing efforts to win over Mr. Sayeed.

The Congress has suggested a rotational arrangement with representatives of both parties occupying the office of Chief Minister for three years. Should a Congress-PDP tie-up be engineered, the two parties would have to share ministerial berths with 18 independents who have extended support to such an alliance.

In fact, according to Mr. Azad, the independents constitute a block bigger and are more regionally representative than the PDP which has only 16 MLAs — all from the Valley. Of the 18 independents in favour of a Congress-PDP tie-up, 15 are said to have extended support on the condition that the coalition is led by the Congress.

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