NEW DELHI: Both the Congress and the BJP on Monday dismissed reports suggesting that they are trying to forge an alliance to form government in Jammu and Kashmir.
The buzz around the possibility of an alliance started doing the rounds when on Friday PDP leader
Mehbooba Mufti arrived in Delhi late in the night.
On Saturday, National Conference spokesperson Junaid Azim Mattu alleged that that a former advisor to Mufti is trying to cobble an alliance with Congress. "Perhaps that explains why Mehbooba Mufti is in Delhi while the rest of us are trying to keep our heads above the rising flood waters!" he tweeted.
Today, the former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir dismissed the reports as "amusing" and an "unfortunate example of fake news".
Earlier today, Congress leader
Ghulam Nabi Azad had ruled out the possibility of an alliance with PDP.
"There is no question, for now or in the future, of forging an alliance with the PDP," Azad said.
Even general secretary in-charge of the state Ambika Soni told reporters after a meeting of the party's policy planning group on Kashmir that the party will prepare for fresh elections on the basis of its programmes.
Later today, National Conference leader
Omar Abdullah responded to a tweet saying that he is surprised that even Soni and Azad's "emphatic denial" have not been able to put the speculations to rest.
Abdullah also said that he is in favour of dissolution of the state assembly. "National Conference does not believe in sacrificing its ideological basis for power and the party will not be a part of any attempts for government formation through rumoured permutations and combinations," Abdullah said.
The PDP has 28 seats and the Congress has 12 in the 87-member state Assembly. A simple majority of 44 seats is required to form the government.
