Time running out, Congress closing door

However, Congress state unit head and Chief Ministerial candidate Ghulam Nabi Azad admitted he was making a ‘‘last-ditch’’ effort to resolve the deadlock. ‘‘We will try till we have the time and hope a solution comes out,’’ Azad said.

‘‘We are requesting the PDP to help us in restoring normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir. We believe a stable government is only possible if all of us, Congress, PDP, Panthers Party, Democratic Peoples Alliance, which includes CPI(M) and few other friends, join together. We are still trying our best so that we can go together,’’ he said.

Asked why his party was insistent on Chief Ministership if that was the main hurdle, he said: ‘‘We have nothing against Mufti saheb (Mufti Mohammad Sayeed). This is not about lack of faith in PDP. We respect them. Also, the Congress isn’t making it a point of prestige to add another state to its already 14 states,’’ he said.

‘‘We think if J&K has a Congress-led government, it will be fruitful for the people here. Congress has a clout nationally and internationally. We are the main Opposition in the Parliament, besides we rule 14 states. This will certainly help our common endeavour to restore peace and normalcy here.’’

Azad cited the ‘‘important role,’’ he claimed his party had played in restoring normalcy in Punjab, Manipur and Assam. ‘‘In fact, we resolved Kashmir as well in 1975 and we believe we can be of great help in the process of restoring peace this time around,’’ he said.

Azad said that the Congress has a tradition of sacrificing its governments for the process of restoring peace but here the situation is different. ‘‘We have done it to get secessionist forces back into the mainstream and we don’t put PDP in the catagory. We consider PDP as a mainstream party,’’ he said.

The mood in the Congress was upbeat. Its MLAs gathered in Broadway hotel where Azad was monitoring the party’s negotiations with Independents and other parties. Panthers party chief Bhim Singh sent a fax supporting the Congress addressed to the party president Sonia Gandhi.

A group of independents from Jammu too sent their support letters. The Democratic Peoples Forum, the alliance of six independents led by Peoples Conference proxy Ghulam Mohideen Sofi, today began mediating between the Congress and the PDP.

Earlier, the forum had backed the Congress but now it’s keen to see an alliance between the Congress and the PDP and wishes to support the alliance, not a particular party.

The PDP, too, raised its pitch. Party chief Mufti Mohammad Sayeed said that the PDP couldn’t fulfil its agenda if it doesn’t lead the government.

‘‘We defeated the National Conference here and got 16 seats while Congress defeated BJP in Jammu to get their 20. There is a problem in Kashmir which needs to be addressed and not in Jammu so PDP should lead the coalition. Only the PDP can face the political sitaution here,’’ he said.

Mufti claimed that the PDP got the people’s mandate because of its commitment to resolve the Kashmir problem.

‘‘We want to minimise the atrocities on people. We want to repeal POTA and disband Special Operations Group. We won the elections on these issues and we cannot compromise on any cost. People want us to stick to our agenda of restoration of peace with dignity,’’ he said. ‘‘Congress being a national party has its own concerns. We discussed a common minimum programme with them and there is a grey area,’’ he said.

The Congress claimed to have 41 in its kitty this morning but given that the DPF—the group of four independents and two CPI(M) members—today talked of supporting an alliance rather than a single party, the numbers game is still not over.