Mufti to step down as CM on Saturday

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed will submit his resignation to the state governor on Saturday.

The decision to step down follows Thursday evening's dramatic development when Congress president Sonia Gandhi nominated Union Urban Development Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad as the state's chief minister for next three years as per the terms of the power sharing agreement between the two coalition partners.

Talking to rediff.com, Tara Chand, speaker of the state assembly, confirmed this in a conversation.

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"As the programme stands now Azad would be elected leader of the Congress party at a meeting to be held in Srinagar where all the party MLAs would be present. Though the time of the swearing-in has not been confirmed so far but it is expected to be in the morning of November two," he said.

Sonia is expected to attend the swearing-in ceremony along with senior members of the party. It is not yet known whether Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would be present at the ceremony.

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Azad, who is also likely to arrive in Srinagar on Friday, will be formally elected the leader of the Congress legislature party on November one, setting the stage for his takeover the following day, sources said.

The Peoples Democratic Party legislature party is meeting on Saturday afternoon to take a decide on the candidate for the deputy chief minister post, which in accordance with the power-sharing agreement has to go to the PDP.

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It is likely that either PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti or state Finance Minister Muzaffar Hussain Beigh would be nominated as the party's candidate for the post of DCM.

However, sources close to Mehbooba indicated that she has declined to be the DCM as in that event she shall have to resign from Lok Sabha.

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Meanwhile, Sonia has announced special Id and Diwali packages for the quake-affected areas.

"Legislators of the party have been sent to their respective constituencies in the affected areas to distribute the special package on behalf of the Congress president. They have all left for Srinagar and Jammu, and would reassemble on October 31st," Tara Chand said.