Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik on Wednesday, unexpectedly dissolved the assembly. The move subsequently would call for elections in the state that is heading for a President’s rule once the Governor’s six-month-term ends on December 19.

#BREAKING — Governor Satya Pal Malik dissolves J&K Assembly. | #JKCMRace pic.twitter.com/iypmONqFAy

— News18 (@CNNnews18) November 21, 2018

Mehbooba Mufti claimed to form the government

Since previous morning, media buzz was high that Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is going to form the government with the support of National Conference and Congress. PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti reached out to the governor through fax claiming that she has the number to form the government but it seems the fax machine was not working. Governor said that due to EID, no worker was available to attend Fax.

Have been trying to send this letter to Rajbhavan. Strangely the fax is not received. Tried to contact HE Governor on phone. Not available. Hope you see it @jandkgovernor pic.twitter.com/wpsMx6HTa8

— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) November 21, 2018

Later Sajjad Lone, MLA and leader of the People’s Conference (PC) staked claim to form a government in the state with the support of Bharatiya Janta Party(BJP). Lone who has only two MLAs including himself reached to the governor on Whatsapp to stake claim to form the government in the state.

On Tuesday, Former Chief Minister and PDP party president Mehbooba Mufti in a letter to the governor claimed that she is ready to form the government with her 29 MLA along with the support of 15 MLA from the National Conference and 12 MLA of the Congress, which makes PDP’s collective strength as 56.

In the meantime, the PC Chief Sajad Lone also claimed to form a government with the support of his two MLA along with the 25 MLA of BJP and 18 MLA more MLA. Sajad had also put out a copy of the letter that he has sent to Governor Malik through WhatsApp. The Jammu and Kashmir assembly has 87 members and any party who wants to form the government would require 44 MLA’s support, one more than the halfway mark.

Governor’s Response

Learning these developments, the governor dissolved the assembly. The governor’s office said that the move came because the two parties claiming to form a government were not in a position to last long. “The coming together of such parties in a grouping is nothing but an attempt to gain power rather than to form a responsive government,” governor said in communiqué of dissolution minutes, as reported by the Economic Times. The press release stated that the state needs a stable government.

Another reason that was cited by the governor’s office for the dissolved assembly was that there are reports of “horse-trading and possible exchange of money” in order to get support from the MLAs. According to The Hindu, governor Malik was conveyed by the Center that the two parties are not convincing and they would not be able to form a stable party.

However, this move received a criticism from the NC leader and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.

JKNC has been pressing for assembly dissolution for 5 months now. It can’t be a coincidence that within minutes of Mehbooba Mufti Sahiba letter staking claim the order to dissolve the assembly suddenly appears.

— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) November 21, 2018

Later, Mufti also tweeted expressing her views on the situation.

Since the past five months, regardless of political affiliations, we shared the view that the state assembly be dissolved immediately to avert horse trading & defections. 2/4

— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) November 21, 2018

Meanwhile, National General Secretary of BJP, Ram Madhav, thinks Pakistan is behind all of this.

I dare you @rammadhavbjp ji to prove your allegation. You have RAW, NIA & IB at your command (CBI too is your parrot) so have the guts to place evidence in the public domain. Either prove this or be man enough to apologise. Don’t practice shoot & scoot politics. https://t.co/KEbOo0z6O2

— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) November 22, 2018

A little background

In June this year, the controversial alliance between BJP-PDP was called off which led to the governor’s rule in the state.

In a 27-minute press conference, presided by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) General Secretary Ram Madhav, the party announced that they are officially pulling out of their three-year-old alliance with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Jammu and Kashmir.

Minutes after this announcement, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Mehbooba Mufti submitted her resignation to Governor Narinder Nath Vohra, said senior PDP leader Naeem Akhtar.

The six-month Governor’s Rule is due to end in December which would be further headed by the president’s rule in the state if no government is formed in the state. The president’s rule would be imposed as Jammu and Kashmir constitution has no provision for extension of Governor’s Rule.

According to The Indian Express, the BJP has called for an urgent meeting on Thursday to discuss the current situation of J&K. “We wish that the Assembly elections in J&K should be conducted along with the Parliament elections,” said, BJP state president Ravinder Raina.

Also Read: Mehbooba Mufti Resigns As CM; BJP Demands Governor Rule In Jammu & Kashmir