OPPN UP IN ARMS AFTER J&K GUV’S REMARKS
SRINAGAR: Remarks by Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik that the Centre wanted him to install People’s Conference chairman Sajjad Lone as the new chief minister, prompting him to dissolve the assembly last week, have drawn a sharp reaction from political parties in the state.
On Saturday, speaking at a function in ITM University, Gwalior, Malik said that had he followed the directive of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government at the Centre, “in history, I would have been remembered as a dishonest person.”
“So I finished this matter (by dissolving the assembly),” he said, according to a widely circulated video clip of his address . “Even if they abuse me, I am convinced that I have done the right work.’’
On November 21, Malik dissolved the assembly after Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti staked her party’s claim for forming a government with the support of arch rival National Conference (NC) and the Congress, saying it had the support of 56 members in the 87-seat assembly.
Lone, whose party has two legislators, made a bid for power, claiming to have the support of the BJP’s 25 lawmakers and “more than” 18 others.
Malik, who became J&K governor in August, said in Gwalior that Lone had sent his letter on WhatsApp to an official who turned out to be the personal assistant of the former governor.
Reacting to Malik’s claims, NC vice-president Omar Abdullah said the BJP and its proxies were desperate to form the government by indulging in horse trading and money power.
“I really don’t know what to make of Governor Sb revelations in Gwalior. We know the BJP & it’s proxies were desperate to form a government through horse trading & use of money but we’ve also never known a politically appointed governor going against the wishes of the centre,’’ Omar tweeted on Tuesday.
PDP president and former J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti termed the admission of the governor “unprecedented.” “Leaving aside the fax machine fiasco, good to see that governor Sb refused to take dictation from Delhi, rather opted for dissolution of assembly. This could be unprecedented, given the story of democracy in the state,’’ she said on Twitter.
Terming the revelation by the governor a big development, chief PDP spokesperson Rafi Ahmad Mir said New Delhi should stop political experiments in Kashmir. “If they (Centre) would have installed Sajjad Lone as chief minister, it would have been a political disaster. Delhi should seriously rethink and stop doing experiments in the state.” Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress president Ghulam Ahmad Mir said the governor had exposed the fact that the BJP made efforts to form a state government and install as CM a person whose party had just two legislators. “From day one BJP wanted to install the government in J&K by encouraging defections, horse trading and other things. Governor Malik has exposed the plot of the BJP,’’ Mir said. Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Mohammad Yusuf Taragami said the Centre had been desperate to install what would have been virtually a BJP government in J&K despite the fact that it didn’t have the numbers.
“The governor’s remarks are an eye opener for democratic forces, how defections are encouraged in J&K. It’s shameful.’’
Targami demanded that fresh elections be conducted in J&K.
Governor Malik has in the past explained his decision to dissolve the assembly by saying he didn’t want an unholy alliance to take power in the sensitive state.
Both the PDP and the National Conference have attacked his decision.
Home minister Rajnath Singh had distanced the BJP from Malik’s decision, saying the governor acted after concluding that it wasn’t possible for a new state government to be formed in the current scenario.
“The governor of J&K took the decision after considering the political situation there; he reached a conclusion that government formation was not possible in the state,” Singh said in an interview with Hindustan Times last Thursday.
“It was a decision taken by the governor. The BJP has no role. It is unfortunate that some section is trying to drag the BJP into this.”
The home minister rejected any notion that the BJP had been spooked by the fact that the PDP, the NC and the Congress had come together to stake a claim for forming a government in J&K.
“Where does the question of BJP getting unnerved arise in this case? It was a decision of the governor,” he said.
In June, J&K came under Governor’s rule after the BJP pulled out of a coalition government with the PDP, prompting Mehbooba Mufti to resign.
› “Leaving aside the fax machine fiasco, good to see that governor Sb refused to take dictation from Delhi, rather opted for dissolution of assembly. This could be unprecedented, given the story of democracy in the state MEHBOOBA MUFTI , former J&K chief minister