A senior BJP functionary involved in the talks said it was "only a matter of time" before both parties announced the formation of a government.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) are close to announcing an alliance in Jammu and Kashmir, sources in both parties have told The Hindu.

The State elected a hung Assembly in December and is currently under Governor’s rule. Both parties have agreed on the contours of the alliance, and PDP patriarch Mufti Mohammad Sayeed will be Chief Minister for the entire six-year term of the Assembly, it is understood, but both parties refused to divulge details. This will be the first time that the BJP will be in power in the State.

In the 87-member Assembly, the PDP is the single largest party with 28 seats; the BJP, the National Conference and the Congress have 25, 15 and 12, respectively. Others have won seven seats that included Sajad Lone’s People’s Conference, which won two seats.

The BJP and the PDP said they had already reached an understanding for elections to the four Rajya Sabha seats in the State scheduled for February 7. The Delhi Assembly elections are on the same day, and the BJP is likely to wait till that day to announce the J&K alliance. The PDP and the BJP will contest two each of the RS seats as per arrangement between the two. “We will have to make arrangement with another political party because on our own, we might not be able to win even one seat,” PDP chief spokesperson Naeem Akhter told The Hindu. “Most likely we will go with the BJP.” BJP sources confirmed that they would be going into the elections with the PDP to try and win all the seats between them. The last date for filing nominations for the elections is January 28.

A senior BJP functionary involved in the talks said it was “only a matter of time” before both parties announced the formation of a government. “You soon hear about it,” he said but refused to specify the time frame and details. “It is done,” he said.

The PDP fielded two of its defeated candidates from the recent Assembly elections, Nazir Ahmad Laway and Fayaz Ahmad Mir, for the Rajya Sabha elections. BJP sources say that the party has three probable candidates for RS polls as of now: Ashok Khajuria, Shamsher Singh and Farooq Khan. Out of these, two will be fielded, a senior BJP State leader told The Hindu.

The Rajya Sabha election to the four seats in Jammu and Kashmir will be held under three notifications. For two seats which will be contested under two separate notifications, the candidates will have to garner at least 44 votes.

This article has been edited to correct a factual error.