Manmohan fails, Cong, PDP play same old tune

Singh met PDP chief Mufti Mohammad Sayeed for 50 minutes at his Nowgam residence, but emerged to tell waiting reporters that ‘‘the meeting remained inconclusive, and we are meeting here again tomorrow.’’ Mufti withheld comment.

Earlier, Singh told The Indian Express, ‘‘My effort is to find a way to enlist the cooperation of Mufti and other like-minded people to achieve our common objective.’’

He avoided the crucial question of whether the Congress would change its stand on the issue of who would be the state’s next chief minister. ‘‘It’s not the question of changing stance. It is the question of working together,’’ he said.

But the Congress state leadership was adamant that there would be no compromise. ‘‘The Congress will lead the government and Ghulam Nabi Azad has already been elected as CLP leader,’’ Saifuddin Soz, who emerged from a meeting with Singh and Azad at the latter’s Hyderpora residence, said.

Soz said Congress had already offered Mehbooba Mufti the post of deputy chief minister. And he played down differences over the agenda of governance.

‘‘Sonia Gandhi has already offered unconditional talks with everyone. We are against POTA. We also want to disband SOG,’’ Soz said.

PDP general secretary Tariq Hamid Qurra, however, repeated his party’s stated position: ‘‘We will either head the coalition or stay in the opposition.’’