Guv move to dissolve assembly takes PDP, NC by surprise
Mehbooba and Lone both stake claim; House dissolved
A letter from People’s Conference chairman Sajjad Lone seeking to form the government in Jammu and Kashmir, minutes after Peoples Democratic Party 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, 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. He 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 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 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 that Mufti had the numbers after the NC and the Congress decided to support her party. “Sajjad Lone knew that Mufti can form the government and therefore, he threw a spanner by claiming support of 18 legislators.” There was no clarity on the legislators supporting Lone, whose party has only two MLAs in the 87-member Jammu and Kashmir assembly.