BJP not compromised its political stand on Article 370, AFSPA: Ram Madhav

Bangalore, April 6: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national general secretary Ram Madhav on Monday said there is nothing in the Common Minimum Programe (CMP), arrived between BJP and PDP to form the government in Jammu and Kashmir, which can be described as compromise by the saffron party as the document is for providing good governance and stable government.

"I assure you that there is nothing in the CMP that can be described as compromise by us. It is a CMP for good governance and to give development-oriented stable government," he told reporters on the sidelines of a talk on Current Socio-Political Situation in Jammu and Kashmir here.

The BJP-PDP government is a "governance alliance, not ideological alliance - it cannot be categorised as political alliance also," he contended.

"We had a mandate which needed to be respected. Also, we had constitutional obligation to give a stable government in the state. We have tried to fulfil that constitutional obligation by working out CMP," he said.

Madhav stressed that the party has not compromised its political stand on controversial Article 370, but the Common Minimum Programme with PDP was arrived for "larger interests of the nation".

"We do not have common views on Article 370 - but for giving a stable government and fulfilling constitutional obligations, we arrived at common understanding on the issue - to maintain the present constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir. I don't think there is any compromise on it. To achieve larger interests of the nation, politics offers us to go for impossibilities," he said.

Calculated position on controversial issues

Madhav said the BJP has taken a measured and calculated position on Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA), an issue on which the party and PDP have different views.

The coalition government will examine the need for denotifying disturbed areas which consequently enable the Centre, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to take a final decision on continuation of AFSPA in these areas, Madhav said.

"The BJP-PDP government will examine the need for denotifying disturbed areas. It is a normal exercise which the government takes from time to time. This as a consequence will enable the Union Government to take a final decision on the continuation of AFSPA in these areas.

"It is in the hands of Narendra Modi, don't worry. Have faith in Union Goverment. We have taken a measured and a calculated position on the matters concerning AFSPA," he said.

Madhav said the Jammu and Kashmir government will engage internal stakeholders including the Hurriyat in democratic process of bringing them into national mainstream by urging them to lay down their guns.

"The Jammu and Kashmir government will talk to internal stakeholders irrespective of ideological predilections. It is important to engage them in democratic process of bringing them into the national mainstream," he said.

"A separatist leader took oath in the name of protecting Indian constitution. In fact this is a message to all - come and join the political process. Achieve your political objective in democratic manner. Leave the gun. After all what is the objective - it is the welfare and well being of the people of Jammu and Kashmir through the very vibrant development process of our country," he said.

"Any government without the BJP, it would have been a non-representative government in Jammu and Kashmir," he said.

The larger responsibility was on the BJP to form the government as entire mandate of Jammu was with the party, he said, adding, "The entire mandate of Jammu was with us, so the larger responsibility was on us to form the government."

Elaborating on the nature of CMP, Madhav said 80 per cent of the document dwells upon the issues concerning development in Jammu and Kashmir and ten per cent each on governance and political issues.

"Eighty per cent of the CMP dwells upon development issues of all the three regions - Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. Another 10 per cent deals with issues concerning governance including tackling corruption and remaining ten per cent on political issues," he said.

PTI