BJP moves to end uncertainty over govt in Jammu and Kashmir

New Delhi:  BJP President Amit Shah wants the uncertainty over government formation in Jammu and Kashmir to end soon. He has deputed party general secretary Ram Madhav, who played a key role in bringing together the People's Democratic Party or PDP and the BJP last year in a coalition, to fly to Srinagar and hold talks with PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti and resolve the crisis.

Mr Madhav will meet Ms Mufti and other PDP leaders next week. The state was put under President's rule shortly after the death of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in a hospital in New Delhi on January 7. Mr Sayeed headed the first government in the state in which the BJP was a partner.

Ms Mufti who was widely expected to succeed her father Mr Sayeed as the state's first woman chief minister hardened her stance putting off the swearing in. She has asked the BJP to spell out the confidence building measures the Centre is willing to take for the people of the state.

the BJP wants the uncertainty in Jammu and Kashmir to end before the Budget session of Parliament begins on February 23. The party brass is worried about the political fallout of the alliance not forming the government as the BJP-led government at the Centre, which is in a minority in the Rajya Sabha, negotiates will other parties in Parliament for passage of crucial bills. Also, there are assembly elections in Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry in the next few months.

The BJP will not re-negotiate the Agenda for Governance - a common list that the two parties drew up at the time of forming the coalition to guide the state government.