J&K to come under President’s Rule on Dec 20
Mehbooba expresses gratitude to Omar, Ambika
Neeraj Rohmetra
JAMMU, Nov 21: Governor, S P Malik today dissolved the State Legislative Assembly under the relevant provisions in Jammu and Kashmir Constitution after rival alliances led by PDP chief, Mehbooba Mufti and People’s Conference leader Sajjad Lone staked claim to form Government in the State.
While Sajjad Lone claimed he has the support of 26 BJP legislators and 18 others, which would cross the majority mark of 44, People’s Democratic Party leader Mehbooba Mufti said she has the support of the Congress and the National Conference, taking their collective total to 56.
The State will now be placed under President’s Rule on December 20, after the six month tenure of Governor’s Rule comes to an end.
“With the dissolution of Assembly, the Lower House will cease to exist while Upper House will remain intact. But session of the Council can’t be held in absence of Legislative Assembly. However, MLCs will continue to enjoy all their powers including usage of Constituency Development Fund (CDF)”, sources said.
Reacting to the dissolution of Assembly, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti in a series of tweets said, “in my twenty six year old career as a politician, I thought I had seen it all! But like they say never say never! Nevertheless, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to @OmarAbdullah and @Ambikasoni ji for helping us achieve the seemingly impossible”.
“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. Oddly enough our pleas fell on deaf ears. But who would have thought that the very idea of a grand coalition would give such jitters”, she said adding, “in today’s age of technology, it is very strange that the fax machine at HE Governor’s residence didn’t receive our fax but swiftly issued one regarding the Assembly dissolution”.
Reacting to the development, NC leader Omar Abdullah tweeted: “NC has been pressing for dissolution for five months now. It can’t be a coincidence that within minutes of Mehbooba Mufti’s letter staking claim, the order to dissolve Assembly suddenly appears”.
“J&K Raj Bhavan needs a new fax machine urgently”, Omar wrote in an indirect reference to failure of the fax machine in Raj Bhavan to receive the letter of PDP president staking claim for Government formation.
Earlier, in a day which saw unfolding of dramatic political developments, PDP, NC and Congress cobbled an alliance to form next coalition Government in the State.
After cobbling an alliance, Mehbooba Mufti had submitted a letter to Governor S P Malik claiming that PDP-led alliance has a collective strength of 56 Legislators – PDP (29), NC (15) and the Congress (12).
“While PDP is the largest party of State Assembly, Congress and NC have decided to extend support to our party to form Government. We would be seeking your convenience shortly to stake the claim for forming the Government in the State”, said the letter bearing D.O No. JKPDP-512 dated November 21, 2018.
Subsequently, Sajjad Lone, leader of the People’s Conference also staked claim to form a Government with the support of the 25-legislator strong BJP and “more than 18” other lawmakers.
In a letter to Governor Satya Pal Malik, Lone, whose party has two MLAs, including himself, said he has the support of more than required number of legislators in the Assembly to form a Government.
“Following our telephonic conversation regarding Government formation in the State of Jammu and Kashmir, I hereby formally stake claim for the Government formation in the State with the support of the BJP and more than 18 other elected members of the J&K State Legislature…,” he said.
Lone said he would submit the letter of support from the BJP Legislature party and other members supporting the Government headed by him as and when asked to do so.
“I assure you that with the support I have from the BJP and other members of State Legislature, I will form a strong and politically stable Government for restoring peace, harmony and prosperity in the State and would work towards overall development in all three regions of the state,” Lone said.
The 87 member position of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly stands as PDP has 28 legislators, Congress 12 and the National Conference 15. The BJP is the second largest party in the State with 25 members while Sajjad Lone’s People Conference (PC) has only two MLAs and the mark needed to form the Government is 44 and the three parties together will have majority in the 87-member House.
Earlier in the day, former Finance Minister and senior PDP leader, Altaf Bukhari claimed to EXCELSIOR, “to protect the Special Status of Jammu and Kashmir, the leaders of three political parties —- PDP, NC and Congress have agreed in principle to form an alliance. The alliance isn’t for the sake of governance but is aimed to defend the special provisions of the State – Article 370 and Article 35A, which have come under serious threat from the present political dispensation”.
“The broad contours of the alliance have been discussed and now the leaders will sit across the table to work-out the details”, he added.
Former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad while reacting to the political developments in New Delhi said, “talks being held with like-minded political parties to form a united force were at initial stages and we haven’t discussed Government formation till date”.
Sources in PDP, however, said, “a senior PDP leader had also met Omar Abdullah seeking his consent for the Government formation and a formal announcement was to be made shortly. The Chief-Ministerial candidate was to belong to the PDP if the PDP-NC alliance had come to fruition as it was the single largest political party”.
JKPCC president, G A Mir told EXCELSIOR, “Congress party favoured a secular front to keep “communal forces” at bay. We had been working for a grand alliance at the national level and there was no reason why we oppose any such move in the State as the aim was to keep communal forces out,” said the leader.
“Our party had already formed a coalition Government with PDP earlier in 2003 and we have alliance with NC at national level. Therefore, it would have been in interest of State to form a secular alliance with like-minded parties”, he added.
Reliable sources also said, “the State leadership of Congress would be holding detailed confabulation with senior party leaders including Ghulam Nabi Azad and Ambika Soni on November 23 in New Delhi”.
The National Conference had also called a meeting of its Political Affairs Committee (PAC) tomorrow morning in Srinagar to discuss the flurry of political developments in the State and it will be attended by senior party functionaries including party patriarch, Dr Farooq Abdullah and vice-president, Omar Abdullah.
Veteran CPI (M) leader M Y Tarigami met National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah in Srinagar to discuss the feasibility of forming a new Government by extending support to the People’s Democratic Party.
The National Conference had offered its support to the PDP after the 2014 Assembly polls but the latter had ignored the offer and aligned with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“The aim is to pave way for fresh polls in the State so that an elected Government takes charge and the political uncertainty due to the Governor’s Rule is put to an end,” the source asserted.
Former Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah offered some Twitter amusement amid reports of alliance formation and tweeted: “Who ever said “may you live in interesting times” knew what they were talking about”.
Governor’s Rule was clamped in J and K on June 19 for a 6-month period following the collapse of the PDP-BJP coalition Government after the saffron party withdrew support. The State Assembly was also kept in suspended animation so that political parties could explore the possibility of forming a new Government.
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