Sonia takes the Srinagar plunge

For the record, both sides welcomed the news. Congress general secretary Ambika Soni said that Mufti had been informed and he would hand over the reins to Azad at an “austere” ceremony in Srinagar on November 2.

That’s the date Mufti completes the stipulated three years of the government’s six-year term.

“The new arrangement will follow the same pattern as now,’’ said Soni, implying a transfer of Deputy Chief Ministership to the PDP. “Of course, there will be a Deputy CM from PDP but I can’t say who it will be,’’ she said.

While Congress leaders said they hoped Mufti’s daughter and PDP chief Mehbooba take the post, within the PDP, the choice isn’t clear yet.

Over the next two days, senior PDP leaders will meet to finalise their choice. Mehbooba, currently an MP from Anantnag, is not expected to take that job with talk that Finance Minister Muzaffar Baig and Tourism and Housing Minister Ghulam Hassan Mir are strong contenders. The dark horse, PDP sources said, is Agriculture Minister Abdul Aziz Zarger, considered close to Mufti.

Today’s announcement of the handover brings the party back to leadership of the state after almost three decades and sets it for a delicate balancing act with its ally, the PDP.

Maulvi Abbas Ansari, former Hurriyat chairman, who in 1987 was an active founding member of the Muslim Muthida Mahaz and also contested elections, sees no tangible difference in the change of guard in the Kashmir. “Now on, Azad as chief minister would mean Central government ruling the state directly. but compared to 1986, there is a huge difference,” he said.