New Delhi/Srinagar: The writing was on the wall for months, but Jammu and Kashmir's ruling coalition finally came undone on Tuesday as the BJP pulled the rug from Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti's People's Democratic Party (PDP).
Governor N N Vohra recommended imposition of Central rule in his report to President Ram Nath Kovind, a copy of which was also forwarded to the Union Home Ministry, according to a Raj Bhavan spokesperson in Srinagar. Kovind is currently abroad.
BJP general secretary Ram Madhav made the surprise announcement after the party high command summoned its Jammu and Kashmir ministers for emergency consultations in New Delhi. A few hours later, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti submitted her resignation to Governor N N Vohra amid a swirl of political activity in Srinagar and New Delhi.
"It has become untenable for the BJP to continue in the alliance government in the state," Madhav told reporters at a hurriedly called press conference in the national capital.
Reacting to BJP abruptly pulling out of the alliance, Mehbooba said in Srinagar that the PDP has always maintained that a muscular security policy would not work in the state and reconciliation was vital.
"We will continue to strive for dialogue and reconciliation in Jammu and Kashmir," the PDP leader said after submitting her resignation as chief minister and added that the alliance with the BJP was not for power.
National Conference leader Omar Abdullah, whose party is the third biggest in the assembly, captured the drama with one sentence, "I wish Mehbooba Mufti had resigned herself... instead of having the rug pulled from under her feet."
The BJP won 25 seats and the PDP 28 in the 87-member assembly and came together in an alliance, two months after the December 2014 elections. The NC has 15 seats, the Congress 12 and others seven.
Although the BJP and the PDP had campaigned vigorously against each other, they came together with an Agenda of Alliance in the hope of pulling the state out of the cycle of violence. But the alliance remained shaky, even as the security situation continued to nosedive.
Both Omar and the Congress said they would not ally with any party to form a government in the state. Mehbooba also said she had told the governor that her party would not go into any other alliance.
The BJP said it favours governor's rule.
If imposed, it will be the fourth time since 2008 and the eighth time since 1977.
Madhav said the decision to withdraw was taken after consulting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah.
The BJP blamed the PDP for failing to improve the security conditions in the Kashmir Valley. Madhav cited last week's killing of senior journalist Shujaat Bukhari in the heart of Srinagar in the highly secured area of Press Enclave by unidentified shooters. The same day — two days before Eid — an Army jawan was abducted while going on Eid leave and killed.
In Srinagar, Mehbooba countered the allegations and listed her government's achievements.
"We have been able to withdraw 11,000 cases against the stone pelters, given an offer of talks with all shades of opinion by none other than Union Home Minister (Rajnath Singh) and brought about a unilateral ceasefire," she said.
Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said the BJP had committed a "Himalayan blunder" by forming a government with the PDP. See P5