Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed on Wednesday said his People's Democratic Party will handover the chief ministership to the Congress, its coalition partner, on completing three years in office in November.
"I will step down [as chief minister] on November 2. The terms [of the power sharing] agreement are very clear," Sayeed told the press on Wednesday.
After the 2002 assembly polls, the Congress and PDP had agreed on a power sharing arrangement under which the PDP got the chief ministership for the first three years. Now it's the Congress' turn.
Sayeed said the civic polls in the state, scheduled for February 1, had provided an opportunity for the ruling coalition to present its performance to the electorate.
On the boycott of the polls by the separatist leaders, the chief minister said: "I don't think they have any justification. These polls are for [ensuring] basic amenities. There is no talk of resolution of the Kashmir issue through these polls."
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