Presents contrasting claims

While all parties were involved in forging alliance

While Mehbooba Mufti has managed to get her rival Omar Abdullah’s National Conference and the Congress to support her claim, Lone has staked his claim on the basis of support from the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir.

Why is Omar seeking a new fax machine for Rajbhavan?

After the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Satya Pal Malik dissolved the assembly, former chief minister Jammu and Kashmir, and vice president National conference Omar Abdullah said that dissolving the assembly within five minutes after Mehbooba Mufti stakes claim, cannot be coincidence. Taking to his widely followed twitter handle Omar wrote: “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.”

Reacting to the Mehbooba’s complaint on twitter, when she was not able to fax her letter to Rajbhavan, Omar said: “J&K Raj Bhavan needs a new fax machine urgently.” Mehbooba tweeted: “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.”  “Sending the letter also by mail,” Mehbooba wrote in another tweet. Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik dissolved the state assembly on Wednesday evening after rival claims to form government from former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and People’s Conference leader Sajad Lone, who is backed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The state has been under Governor’s Rule since June, when the BJP ended its ruling alliance with Ms Mufti.Ms Mufti said her Peoples’ Democratic Party has the support of arch-rival Omar Abdullah’s National Conference and the Congress. The Jammu and Kashmir governor said there was no imminent reason to dissolve the assembly because “nobody came out with this horrible proposition that we will form a government.”

“The Election Commission will decide when the elections will be held. We are ready for that. We have had four rounds of municipal elections, which saw not even a casualty of a bird. We can hold assembly elections too, but that is not my job. They will decide the date and schedule,” he added. “Yesterday was Eid, there was no staff in the Raj Bhavan to even give me food. Everybody was on leave, nothing was working. She could have come a day before, nobody stopped her. But even if I had got the fax, I would have taken the same decision,” Satya Pal Malik is reported to have said.

Among the reasons the Governor has given for the dissolution of the assembly is the “impossibility of forming a stable government by the coming together of political parties with opposing political ideologies”.

The statement issued by the Governor’s office said that there were reports of “extensive horse trading and possible exchange of money in order to secure the support of legislators belonging to widely diverging political ideologies just to be able to form a government”.

The statement further said that “such activities are not healthy for democracy and vitiate the political process”.

Governor Malik dissolved the state assembly after claims to form the government were sent in both by Mehbooba Mufti and and People’s Conference chief Sajad Lone. While Mehbooba Mufti has managed to get her rival Omar Abdullah’s National Conference and the Congress to support her claim, Lone has staked his claim on the basis of support from the BJP. The third reason cited is “serious doubts about the longevity of any such arrangement where there are competing claims of majority”.

The fourth reason that was cited was, “The fragile security scenario in the state of Jammu and Kashmir where there is a need to have a stable and supportive environment for security forces which are engaged in extensive anti-militancy operations and are gradually gaining control over the security situation.” “The Governor came to the conclusion that, in this background, he has satisfied himself that the best course of action is to dissolve the assembly so as to provide stability and security to the state and hold elections at an appropriate time so that a government with a clear mandate is duly formed,” it added.  The BJP suspported the governor’s decision to dissolve the assembly and hold elections saying, “The best option in such a scenario is to go in for a fresh election at the earliest. This assembly cannot produce a stable government”.