The Hindu reports: Mutually agreeable formulations on the question of Jammu and Kashmirs special constitutional status and the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act remained elusive for the BJP and PDP,  but both sides remained optimistic about arriving at a Common Minimum Programme to form a coalition government in the state.

Factors pushing us closer are stronger than those pulling us apart. But nothing is done until it is done, a senior BJP functionary told The Hindu, adding that some reservations in the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh -- reported in a section of the media -- are only to be expected, but not insurmountable.

While the BJP has agreed to most of our Common Minimum Programme  and seems to be open to our stand on the AFSPA, they seem very reluctant to commit to anything that could be interpreted as giving up its stand on Article 370, a senior PDP leader told The Hindu.

Read the full report here