J&K Governor dissolves assembly after PDP-NC-Cong alliance, Sajad Lone-BJP stake claim to form govt

She said that the PDP with 29 seats, the NC with 15 seats and the Congress with 12 seats have the support of a total of 56 MLAs. The Jammu and Kashmir assembly has a total of 87 seats, with the halfway mark of 44.

In the meantime, People’s Conference leader Sajad Lone also staked claim to form the government. He also put out a copy of the letter that he sent to the Governor Malik through WhatsApp.

In the letter, he has said that he has the support of BJP (25 seats) and more than 18 other elected members of the state legislature, which makes the total just above the halfway mark.

With the PDP-NC-Congress claiming that they have the support of 56 MLAs and Sajad Lone stating that he has the backing of at least 43 MLAs, there seems to be an indication of horse-trading in the offing.

The Governor dissolved the assembly after taking these developments into account. The move received a sharp response from NC leader and former chief minister Omar Abdullah:

Later, Mufti, in a tweet, expressed her "heartfelt gratitude" to Abdullah for "helping us achieve the seemingly impossible."

The BJP-PDP alliance was called off in Jammu and Kashmir in June this year, which had warranted Governor’s Rule in the state.

The six-month term of Governor’s Rule is due to end on December 19, after which President’s Rule will have to be imposed in case no government is formed. This is because the Jammu and Kashmir constitution has no provision for extension of Governor’s Rule.

Governor Malik had told news agency PTI last month that he was in favour of holding early elections in the state as he did not think a popular government can be formed out of the present House.