No change in BJP stand on article 370: Venkaiah Naidu

Hyderabad, March 1 (IANS) There is no change in the BJP's stand on repealing article 370 of the constitution which guarantees special status to Jammu and Kashmir, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said Sunday.

He replied in the negative when asked if the BJP had compromised on the issue to form a coalition government with the People's Democratic Party (PDP). "We stand where we were and we will be."

The minister said repealing article 370 required a two-third majority in parliament as the constitution would have to be amended.

"Why will they accept our stand and why will we accept their stand?" he said, when asked whether the Peoples Democratic Party had agreed to the Bharatiya Janata Party's stand on the issue.

Naidu said the PDP-BJP coalition in Jammu and Kashmir would move forward on issues where there was consensus.

The minister said the formation of the coalition government was a happy occasion for BJP workers.

He said that one of the founders of the BJP, Syama Prasad Mukherjee, dedicated his life to fight for the merger of the entire Jammu and Kashmir with the Indian Union.

"This is a happy occasion. For the first time in the country's history, a coalition government is formed in Jammu and Kashmir with the BJP as a partner," he said.