Jammu and Kashmir deal done: New partners PDP, BJP step over divide - The Indian Express

Mufti: Modi has no option but to come around to that path, referring to the strategy that was adopted by the previous NDA government under A B Vajpayee..

For the first time in history, the BJP is going to be a part of a ruling coalition with the PDP in Jammu and Kashmir.

While PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed is going to be Chief Minister for six years, the agenda of alliance between the two parties seems heavily tilted towards the BJP. In fact, apart from a full term as CM for Mufti, the BJP hasn’t given in to the PDP’s demands on any of the contentious issues.

Sources said the new government would be announced soon and Mufti would meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the oath-taking ceremony. For the BJP, RSS and other Sangh affiliates, it’s a historic moment, and there is jubilation in the Sangh Parivar camp in Jammu.

“This day has come only because of the sacrifices of our cadre and leaders. Syama Prasad Mookerjee sacrificed his life here in J&K. More than 60 years later, the BJP is going to be in government in Kashmir,” said a party leader. “I won’t be able to give you the exact details of the Common Minimum Programme of our coalition, but trust me, there is not a single thing there that deviates from BJP’s ideological position.”

“It is a historic opportunity for the party,” said senior BJP leader and the party’s likely candidate for deputy chief ministership Nirmal Singh. He said the two parties wanted the people to get their due, but perceptions and approaches were different. “Those differences have been narrowed down. There has been a religious, regional and linguistic divide and that would be be bridged,” he said.

“The understanding on government formation is the beginning of a good era for people of J&K,” said BJP’s state general secretary Ashok Koul. “The BJP is a nationalist party that has been fighting for the welfare of the people of the state since 1947 and now people have given us a chance,” he said.

The entire PDP leadership has assembled in Jammu where meetings took place all day on Saturday, but they weren’t ready to divulge the details of the pact on record. Officially, the PDP has maintained that the talks are still on. “We have achieved significant progress. The talks have entered the next level — we have achieved consensus on most of the areas, but a couple of things remain inconclusive, on which some more effort may be needed. We will have a clear picture in a couple of days,” said PDP chief spokesman Nayeem Akhtar.

Sources said the BJP didn’t agree to say that Article 370 would be inviolable as demanded by the PDP, and instead the issue was dealt with in a carefully drafted ambiguous language, continued…