PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti likely to be sworn-in on April 4

PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti, set to be the first woman Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, is likely to be sworn-in on April 4.PDP sources said the swearing-in is likely to take place on April 4 once the availability of some senior leaders from Delhi was confirmed.

Ms Mufti had met Governor NN Vohra on Saturday last and staked claim to form the government with the support of 25 legislators of the BJP.PDP has 27 legislators in the 87-member state Assembly.

That the alliance government would not take office before March 31 became clear when the State Administrative Council headed by Mr Vohra met in Jammu today and approved a Vote on Account for a period of three months.

56-year-old Mehbooba Mufti has made it clear that focus of her government would be peace, reconciliation and development of the state.

On Saturday, Ms Mufti had denied there are any differences on the issue of allocation of portfolios between PDP and BJP, saying "What differences would we have on portfolios? It is a coalition government, we are not separate entities."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is leaving for a three-nation tour on Tuesday, will be back on April 3. It is unlikely that he would attend the function because of his prior engagements, the sources said.

While Ms Mufti was unanimously elected as the PDP's legislature party leader and nominated as the party's chief ministerial candidate, 25 legislators of BJP met in the state's winter capital and elected Nirmal Singh as their leader.Mr Singh will be the Deputy Chief Minister in the new government, a post he had held in the Mufti Mohammed Sayeed's dispensation.

PDP and BJP had formed an alliance on March 1 last year with Mr Sayeed as the Chief Minister. The two had prepared an Agenda of Alliance, a broad framework for the coalition under which it would function.

The state is still under Governor's Rule, which was imposed on January 8 following the demise of Mufti Mohammed Sayeed after Ms Mufti decided against taking over the reins immediately.