In J&K, no compromise; BJP-PDP try to find common ground

The Bharatiya Janata Party and Peoples Democratic Party are "trying hard" to find a common ground on issues like Article 370 and Armed Forces Special Powers Act on which the two parties have traditionally held different views, a senior leader of BJP said on Saturday.

BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav said if a "compromise" was to be made by either side then a solution to the differences would have been found long ago.

"Both the parties are trying sincerely to arrive at an understanding on common minimum programme of governance. There are a couple of political issues on which traditionally we have held different views. We are trying hard to find a common ground," he said.

He said both the parties have firm views and are working on arriving at common understanding on "how to present these views as part of the larger governance agenda. Until that common understanding is arrived at, no progress is possible."

Madhav did not specifically identifying AFSPA and Article 370 as areas of differences.

The PDP with 28 MLAs and BJP with 25 MLAs in the 87-member assembly have been in talks ever since the election results on December 23 last gave a fractured verdict. The state is under Governor's Rule for over a month.

According to sources privy to the developments, the two sides have possibly agreed on formation of a committee which will go into the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and suggest areas from where it could be revoked.

On Article 370, while the BJP has given no written assurance as demanded by the PDP, the CMP is expected to say that both parties will respect the aspirations of the people of the state within the Constitution.

The proposed CMP may also touch upon the issue of more than 25,000 families of West Pakistan Refugees by saying that it was a humanitarian issue which should be addressed in a humanitarian way.

Image: PDP's Mufti Mohammad Sayeed is likely to be the chief minister if alliance with BJP comes through