BJP has role in governing Kashmir for first time

(Reuters) - Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will for the first time have a role in governing the Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir, at the heart of nearly seven decades of hostility with Pakistan, officials said. Modi, who stormed to power in May, 2014, personally addressed election rallies in the northern state in the run-up to the vote last December, aiming to bring the heavily militarised Himalayan region into the mainstream, a long-running goal of his right-wing party. But no party won a clear majority. The BJP secured a record 25 seats, while the regional Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won 28 seats in the state's 87-seat assembly. Two months of complex negotiations between party leaders on how to share power concluded on Tuesday, with both sides finally agreeing to govern jointly, despite their differing ideologies.