After over two months of sorting out contentious issues, the BJP and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) sealed their alliance at a meeting on Friday between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and PDP leader Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.
The latter will be sworn in as Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir on March 1. BJP leader Nirmal Singh is expected to be named Deputy Chief Minister of the 24-25 member Cabinet.
At the hour-long dialogue with Mufti, Modi agreed to participate in the swearing-in ceremony. Once they form a government, the two alliance partners will announce the contours of the common minimum programme at a press conference in Jammu on Sunday.
Both sides were reluctant to discuss the details of the agreement that was reached after what Sayeed described as a “war of nerves” between the two parties that are like “North Pole and South Pole”.
The Chief Minister-designate made no secret of the painful efforts that went into the formation of the alliance. “We have to respect the mandate of the people.
They elected the BJP in Jammu and in the Valley, they voted overwhelmingly for the PDP. It has taken us two months of a war of nerves to reach this agreement,” Sayeed told reporters after his meeting with the PM.
Though Sayeed refused to discuss the details of the agreement on the three most contentious issues, including Article 370, Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) and dialogue with Pakistan, he did dwell over the BJP’s position on the third point.
“On the external dimension (dialogue with Pakistan), I remember what Atal Behari Vajpayeeji had said — that we can choose our friends but we cannot choose our neighbours. Modiji agrees,” he said.
Sources said the BJP has taken a pragmatic stand on Article 370, a core ideological issue with the party. It has agreed to the formulation that it would “uphold constitutional guarantees to the State of Jammu and Kashmir”.
Since all the constitutional guarantees to the State flow through Article 370, it is obvious that the BJP is resigned to the fact that “abrogation” of the provision is not a possibility even if the two parties choose not to mention it in so many words.
On the PDP’s demand for the withdrawal of the AFSPA, the two parties are believed to be considering the constitution of a Joint Central Committee to prepare a timeline for its revocation.
However, Sayeed did not discuss these details. “Leave these issues aside for today. They will be revealed when we discuss the Common Minimum Programme,” he said.
Reach consensusHe did indicate that both sides have compromised on their respective stands for reaching a consensus.
“It is like bringing the North Pole and the South Pole together. Hame karna padta hai (we have to do all this). The most important thing is that for the purpose of bringing the different regions of the State together, we have agreed to sink our differences and work together,” he remarked.
When asked whether the PDP will join the National Democratic Alliance at the Centre, Sayeed said: “It is too early to say that.”