RSS wants no BJP back-off on Art 370

SRINAGAR: The RSS has thrown a spanner in the BJP-PDP works. Just when the two political parties were close to clinching a pact on government formation in Jammu and Kashmir, a RSS leader (Indresh Kumar) has voiced reservations on any dilution of the saffron stand on key issues like Article 370 and the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. However, sources said, former RSS leader and BJP general secretary Ram Madhav, who is also a key negotiator in talks with the PDP, has assured that talks on government formation were close to winding up and there will be ‘‘good news soon.” A stumbling block in the talks has been the PDP’s demand for a written assurance that “the present constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir will be maintained.”