JAMMU, March 1 � PDP veteran Mufti Mohammed Sayeed was today sworn in as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir heading a coalition with BJP, which, in a clear departure from its earlier stand, agreed to maintain status quo on Article 370 in the common agenda for governance, reports PTI.
The 79-year-old Sayeed, who returns as the Chief Minister after a gap of over nine years, was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor NN Vohra along with 24 ministers, including separatist-turned-politician Sajjad Lone, who was accommodated from the BJP quota.
Nirmal Singh of BJP, who will be the new Deputy Chief Minister of the State, was second after Sayeed to take oath. This is the first time that BJP will be part of the government in the only Muslim-majority State of the country.
The swearing-in of the new government ended 49 days of Governor�s rule. In all, 13 MLAs, including Sayeed from the PDP and 12 MLAs from BJP and People�s Conference combine, were sworn in as ministers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah, veteran leaders LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, BJP general secretary Ram Madhav and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar attended the ceremony which took place at the Jammu University�s General Zorawar Singh Auditorium.
Addressing a press conference with Singh, Sayeed cited former Prime Minister VP Singh, saying �politics is the art of the possible, even when there are contradictions.� He had earlier termed the coalition as a meeting of �North Pole and the South Pole�.
Sayeed, however, stoked a controversy immediately after taking oath, saying credit must be given to �people from across the border� � an oblique reference to Pakistan, Hurriyat and militant outfits, for �allowing conducive atmosphere� for the Assembly polls.