J&K: RSS irked over BJP's deal with PDP on AFSPA, Article 370

Jammu, Feb 16: Amid reports of BJP inching closer towards sealing an alliance with the People's Democratic Party (PDP) to form a government in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, the saffron party's parental organisation RSS is reportedly unhappy with the Common Minimum Programme between the two parties.

As per a report published in India Today, the BJP's ideological mentor has slammed the saffron party for its "compromise" on the Uniform Civil Code, the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, which provides special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

The BJP and PDP reportedly arrived at a common minimum programme, last week, to put an end to the political deadlock in the valley state. The BJP and PDP are in talks to reach at a consensus over forming government by Feb 23.

Earlier on Sunday, reports of PDP, the single largest party in the J&K assembly, putting up a fresh 11-point proposal in front of the BJP. Following this the PDP will form an alliance with the BJP in the state.

After, BJP's humiliating loss at Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) hands in the recently concluded Delhi assembly polls the PDP has become more stringent on its demand and the ongoing dialogue process was also started afresh. Political experts are of the view that PDP's 11-point demand reflects the same.

Earlier this month, PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed asserted that the two parties will work "shoulder-to-shoulder" to provide good government to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

"There would be structured dialogue between leaders of the two parties (PDP and BJP) and discussions would be held on the issues to finalise on a Common Minimum Programme (CMP) before forming the government," the PDP leader had said, adding that they were not in a hurry to form government.

Both BJP and PDP received strong mandates from people of Jammu region and Kashmir region, respectively, but the assembly turned out to be a hung one as no party managed to get a clear majority. PDP emerged as the single largest party with 28 seats while BJP bagged 25 seats in the 87-member assembly. National Conference and Congress received 15 and 12 seats, respectively.

Hence, it will be interesting to see if BJP angers its parental organisation or PDP. RSS is firm over continuation of AFSPA in the Kashmir Valley, wants changes in Article 370 along with providing citizenship to displaced Pakistani Hindus while PDP's policies are exactly opposite to RSS's.

OneIndia News