Sonia Gandhi meets Mehbooba Mufti, but Congress says it was not political
The meeting is significant as the Bharatiya Janata Party, PDP’s ally, has not officially supported Mufti’s chief ministership after her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s death.
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Sunday met Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to condole her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s death. The Congress has said the meeting was not political and that the party has a "long association" with Mufti’s family. Gandhi was accompanied by leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and party general secretary Ambika Soni.
The Jammu and Kashmir People’s Democratic Party ally, Bharatiya Janata Party, has not formally offered support to Mufti’s chief ministership yet, making the meeting between Gandhi and her more significant. BJP leader Nitin Gadkari however, met Mufti as well, and said both parties would work together in the state.
Jammu and Kashmir is now under President’s rule, with the BJP and PDP yet to formalise their decision on the state’s new chief minister.