NEW DELHI: The BJP is willing to keep the controversial uniform civil code and abrogation of Article 370 out of a common minimum programme being prepared to seal an alliance with the People’s Democratic Party in Jammu and Kashmir, media reports said on Saturday.
A BJP-PDP alliance government would run on the basis of a CMP to support the public mandate, BJP president Amit Shah said in an interview. Jammu and Kashmir has been under President’s Rule since January 9 after elections threw up a hung assembly with the PDP winning 28 seats, followed by the BJP with 25.
“Alliance governments run on a CMP. It has nothing to do with ideology. A CMP is not a compromise. Parties accept this to support the public mandate,” Shah told Hindustan Times.
The PDP, which got all its seats from the Muslim-dominated Kashmir region, was unhappy with the BJP’s stand of repealing Article 370 – which gives residents special status under laws related to citizenship, property and fundamental rights – and the uniform civil code that seeks to replace the personal laws of each religion with a common legal structure.
The BJP, in return, has asked the PDP to keep its demand of revoking the Armed Forces Special Powers Act out of the common document. “We would be able to take some concrete decision in the near future. Our talks are progressing in a serious manner. Issues in the way of government formation are being sorted out,” Shah said. If talks succeed, the BJP would become a part of a government in the state for the first time.
“There is no question of leaving any issue. But, in an alliance, parties have to adhere to a CMP that is a minimum ‘to-do’ list,” Shah said.
The BJP chief also said the information and broadcasting ministry’s advertisement featuring the first preamble of the Constitution, which did not include the words socialist and secular, shouldn’t be misinterpreted. “The first preamble was popularised in the form of advertisement. It should not be distorted,” Shah said.
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