Committed to resettling Kashmiri Pandits in Valley: BJP

NEW DELHI: BJP leader Ram Madhav, who played a key role in forging his party's alliance with PDP in Jammu and Kashmir, today said that much more was needed to be done to resettle Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley but insisted that the coalition government was committed to it.

In an interactive session on Facebook, the BJP general secretary called the alliance as well as the situation in the state "difficult", but said there was greater understanding between the two parties now.

Asked about BJP's promise of bringing Pandits back in the Valley, Madhav said, "The PDP-BJP government is committed to fulfilling the promise of resettling Pandits in the Valley with safety and honour. There is some progress. I agree much more needs to be done. We shall do everything possible in this direction."

About the difficulties reportedly facing the alliance, he said, "The government is trying its best to handle the difficult alliance on one hand and the difficult state situation on the other.

"There is greater understanding between the alliance partners now. Governance also has been improving steadily despite the opposition parties trying their best to create discord and hurdles."

He also mentioned the reported "unhappiness" among the people on the lack of correct information and also continuous misinformation courtesy "some of you (media)".

"Having said that, I agree that there is great scope for improving performance of the government."

Madhav, who had recently apologised after his attack on Vice President Hamid Ansari over the latter's absence from International Yoga Day events, also said, "The ideology that believed that India had two distinct nations has gone long ago. We now believe in the ideology of 'One Nation, One People'."