Congress, PDP move fast after NC jumps gun

PDP chief Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, who met Sonia Gandhi — Azad was also present — late in the evening, finally upped the ante for the Congress. And while he declined to speak with the media-persons before exiting from 10, Janpath, Manmohan Singh of the Congress said that though nothing had been decided upon as yet, the final decision would depend on tomorrow’s CLP meet.

According to Manmohan, Mufti — who also met LK Advani — conveyed to Sonia the importance of the PDP heading the Government. Sonia, he added, replied that this was a matter on which the party would have to ascertain the views of its newly elected MLAs.

Three senior Congress leaders from Delhi — Ahmed Patel, R K Dhawan and Satyajit Gaekwad — are leaving for Srinagar to act as ‘‘observers’’ during the MLAs’ session, scheduled to be held at 3 p.m.

Earlier in the day, Sonia Gandhi convened a hurried CWC meeting which took stock of the fast-changing scenario, including the latest turnaround by the National Conference on Government formation.

That was a surprise development but, as senior NC leader Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din Shah said after the party meeting, ‘‘there are always surprises in politics’’.

Party chief Omar Abdullah will be meeting Governor G C Saxena tomorrow to discuss the situation, he said.

While the NC’s new stand has come as a surprise, sources say the party had started exploring the possibilities of government formation soon after the NC’s debacle in the elections.

The party had first decided to explore the possibility of government formation during a cabinet meeting convened by Farooq to discuss the post poll scenario at his residence in Srinagar.

At that meeting, some senior party leaders had advised Farooq not to concede defeat — which Omar had — as NC has still emerged as the single largest party and was better placed than others.

It was then that the cabinet had authorised senior party leaders Ghulam Mohi-ud-Din Shah and Ifitkar Hussain Ansari to talk to independents and some other smaller groups, sources said. They added that some independents have assured NC of their support, provided it managed to reach the magic 44 mark in the State Assembly.