Showdown: Cong draws first

In Srinagar, the buzz was that the Congress was trying to rope in independents and engineer defections from the PDP to somehow get close to the halfway mark of 44 in a House of 87 members and then stake claim to form the government.

The party was also promised support from the Panthers Party whose chief Bhim Singh met Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi this evening. To add to the mess, he said that he himself would be only too willing to lead the coalition.

At the Congress headquarters in New Delhi, there was growing suspicion that in case all attempts failed, the state Assembly could well be kept in suspended animation after October 17. Most Congress leaders admitted that the PDP would not settle for Azad, from Doda in Jammu, after making it public that Valley-man Sayeed was all set to lead the coalition.

In Srinagar, Congress leader Taj Mohiuddin claimed that Congress had the requisite numbers to form the government. ‘‘We are now in a position to form a new government. We will show our strength,’’ he said. After being elected CLP leader, Azad met Governor G C Saxena. Sayeed and National Conference chief Omar Abdullah too met Saxena.

The PDP’s insistence on inclusion of unconditional talks with Kashmiri militants in the charter for governance is said to have come in the way of the alliance.

For the record, Azad told The Indian Express that the Congress was in total agreement with the PDP over the Common Minimum Programme. The Congress, he said, wanted to head the government as it felt the people of the state had voted for perceptible change, which could be brought about only by the Congress.

‘‘We stand by our promise of unconditional dialogue with separatists’’, he said, adding that the party would be sending an envoy to the PDP to mediate.

However, PDP sources said Sonia Gandhi, when she met Sayeed in New Delhi, made it plain that her party could not support the PDP demand for unconditional talks. She was quoted as having said that ‘‘a party like the Congress had to have a national outlook and not different parametres for different situations.’’ A dejected Sayeed returned to Srinagar and apparently explained the situation to Governor Saxena.

Sayeed’s daughter Mehbooba Mufti, on her part, maintained that ‘‘Kashmiris who voted us to power expect us to change the ground situation and we cannot do that without holding talks with militants.’’

Speaking to The Indian Express, Mehbooba said,‘‘We promised to stop bloodshed, provide a healing touch and put an end to the sufferings. But that is not possible if we do not agree to include these in the common governance plan.’’

Mehbooba said no talks were on with the Congress at the moment. ‘‘I only see Congress leaders on TV claiming that chances for an alliance were still open.’’

Miffed PDP leaders say the National Conference may take advantage of the situation. ‘‘The Congress handled the whole matter in the most irresponsible manner. If independents sense that the PDP-Congress alliance will not take off, they may head to the NC,’’ a senior party leader said.