BJP stands for abrogation of Article 370 in line with Jana Sangh founder Shyama Prasad Mookerjee's views but has put it on the back-burner keeping in mind its 'coalition dharma' in Jammu and Kashmir where it is in power with PDP, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said today.
Singh, Minister of State in the Prime Minister's office also said the government favoured return of Kashmiri Pandits to the Valley with "respect and security" as it was "incomplete" without them.
In an interview to PTI on matters pertaining to Jammu and Kashmir, Singh, a Lok Sabha member from Udhampur, spoke on a host of issues, but preferred to downplay controversial matters, including repeal of Article 370, which grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
Singh said he had grown up in politics understanding the ideology of Mookerjee, who favoured "ek nishan, ek vidhan, ek pradhan" ('one flag, one Constitution, one leader').
"So, how can we get away from that truth, how can we get away from our legacy and how can we get away from our birth," he said.
"I will not be a hypocrite. There is no reason to be hypocritical. I belong to a party which has followed a particular ideology with conviction and against all odds," Singh said, insisting BJP has not abandoned its stand on Article 370.
The 58-year-old doctor-turned-politician said BJP had differences with PDP on a host of issues, including on Article 370 and that the two "have to accept" it.
"One thing is very clear that we are in coalition in J-K, but we have ideological differences. We have to accept that. And that is very true," he said.
Singh said while BJP as a party stands by all ideological principles it has espoused since its creation, "wherever there is a coalition, the agenda is based on mutual acceptance".
Alliances, he said, are entered into "on the principle of mutual coexistence in order to serve ourselves and offer ourselves to the people and, therefore, when tomorrow we are in full majority, the ideological issues will also be taken up".
"But as they say in English, we have agreed to disagree on certain issues and at the same time agreed to agree.
"So, instead of raising contentious issues in a coalition, which is not in keeping with the coalition dharma, we have chosen to concentrate on dedicating ourselves to the development agenda which is the Common Minimum Programme (CMP)," the Union Minister said.
