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J&K governor’s move to dissolve House takes PDP, NC by surprise
A letter from People’s Conference chairman Sajjad Lone seeking to form the government in J&K, minutes after PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti staked claim, set off a string of events that ended in the dissolution of the assembly by Governor Satya Pal Malik.
A letter from People’s Conference chairman Sajjad Lone seeking to form the government in Jammu and Kashmir, minutes after People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti staked claim, set off a string of events that ended in the dissolution of the assembly by Governor Satya Pal Malik, a move that was criticised by Mufti and those supporting her.
The National Conference (NC), which supported the PDP claim to form the government, was the first to react after the dissolution. NC vice-president Omar Abdullah said the party had been pressing for assembly dissolution for the past five months.
Abdullah received support from former chief minister Mufti, who tweeted that for the past five months, regardless of the political affiliations, they all shared the view that the assembly should be dissolved to avert “horse trading and defections”.
“It can’t be a coincidence that within minutes of the Mehbooba Mufti sahiba letter staking claim, the order to dissolve the assembly suddenly appears,” Abdullah tweeted, adding that the possibility of a grand alliance in Jammu and Kashmir had given the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) the jitters.
The assembly was in suspended animation since the imposition of Governor’s Rule on June 19 after the BJP withdrew support to the Mufti-led government.
Srinagar-based political expert Javeed Jaweed said Mufti had the numbers after the NC and Congress decided to support her party. “Sajjad Lone knew that Mufti can form the government and therefore, he threw a spanner by claiming the support of 18 legislators,” he said.
There was no clarity on the legislators supporting Lone, whose party has only two MLAs in the 87-member Jammu and Kashmir assembly. Congress vice-president Ghulam Nabi Monga termed the governor’s act as unconstitutional. “We had the numbers... Centre has once again defamed democracy,” he said.
