As Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad prepared to take over the reins of power in Jammu and Kashmir, his party ally People's Democratic Party Friday pledged "unflinching" and "positive" support to the forthcoming chief minister and decided to chalk out its action plan on Monday.
Senior PDP leader and state Finance Minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig said the outgoing Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed and his party were committed to implementing the Common Minimum Programme of the coalition in letter and spirit to ensure its success.
He confirmed that a deputy chief minister will be from his party as per the arrangement between Congress and PDP, but said the nominee for the post will be decided by Sayeed.
"Mufti saheb (Mufti Sayeed) has advised all of us (legislators) to extend unflinching support to the new chief minister. He wants the coalition to succeed," Baig told PTI after Cabinet colleagues and several other MLAs met Sayeed.
"He (Sayeed) has advised us not to make issue out of small things, but to focus on the implementation of the CMP which is the charter of the government," Baig said adding, the PDP will provide "positive" support to the new chief minister.
A meeting of PDP MLAs and MLCs will be held on Monday to discuss how they would extend cooperation to the Congress-led government in the new role.
Sayeed is likely to resign from the post of chief minister Saturday at the end of his three-year tenure.
Under the post-poll agreement between Congress and PDP, both the parties were to share chief ministership for three years each in the six-year term of the assembly.
Azad will be sworn in as the 10th chief minister in Srinagar on November 2.
The Congress Legislature Party will meet on Sunday to formally elect him as its leader.
With regard to reports that Congress had been of the view that Sayeed be allowed to continue and changed its stand at the last minute, the PDP leader said, "An impression in this regard was given to his party too. But after the decision was taken, we are not discussing what could have happened or what would have been possible."
Sayeed and his daughter-president of PDP Mehbooba Mufti were incommunicado, apparently taken aback by the Congress' sudden change of stance.
