Jammu, Dec 25: Bhartiya Janata Party top gun, Arun Jaitley who is in Jammu and Kashmir Thursday said that all the BJP legislators of the state have authorized party president Amit Shah to take final call on formation of a new government in the state.
Soon after having a close-door meeting with the newly elected legislators of the party, Jaitley told reporters in Jammu that there are many options for the BJP to form the new government in Jammu and Kashmir.
“I have personally talked to all elected legislators and taken their opinion about who should be the leader of Legislative Assembly,†he said and added that, “PDP has slightly more seats than us, but popular vote is with the BJP.â€
he asserted adding “BJP had the best strike rate in Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections and as far the formation of a government in the state is concerned, the party legislators have authorized the central leadership to decide.
Jaitley said that the people’s mandate shows that the BJP must be a part of the government” and that towards achieving this goal the BJP will try to win the support of independent or “unattached” legislators.
When asked what he discussed with the legislators in the closed door meeting, Jaitley said that, “all of them discussed all the relevant issues including government formation in a hung House and who the leader should be in the new House and what role the party would be adopted.†He claimed there was a consensus that government should be formed and which benches the party should occupy.
He however, added that whoever forms the government, BJP will have a crucial role to play in view of the fact that it has the highest ‘popular’ vote in the elections. “We will go with three principles based on national and state interest. They are: strengthening of national sovereignty, development, and regional balance.†Asked what would by the party’s strategy towards achieving what appears to be difficult if not unattainable for it, Mr. Jaitley said, “Whether to wait and watch or be active, we will not talk about the strategy to the media.†He added there were no two opinions among the MLAs on the strategy to be adopted.
