Following the collapse of the ruling BJP-PDP coalition in Jammu and Kashmir, President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday morning approved the imposition of Governor's rule in the state with immediate effect.
The approval comes after Governor Narinder Nath Vohra forwarded his report to the President yesterday, asking for Governor's rule to be imposed under Section 92 of the Constitution.
On Tuesday in a surprise press conference, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced that they were withdrawing from the alliance with the People's Democratic Party (PDP). With no clear majority, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti resigned.
The BJP's decision came after chief Amit Shah held a meeting with the party's Jammu and Kashmir cabinet ministers. At the press conference, General Secretary Ram Madhav said that the party was left with no other choice but to discontinue its alliance with the PDP. He cited examples of "terrorism, violence and racialisation" in the state over the last few years.
Madhav also pointed to the recent killing of Rising Kashmir editor Shujaat Bukhari in the state as a prime example of how the government had failed the people. Madhav said that the ceasefire was an attempt at bridging dialogue between the separatist and terrorist elements in the state, but since they failed to take up the offer he felt there was no need to continue it.
The BJP and PDP formed a coalition government in 2015 after the state elections threw up a hung assembly. However, both of them were ideologically divided on a variety of issues. The BJP had 25 seats in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, while the PDP had 28.
Neither the National Conference, headed by Omar Abdullah or the Congress made any attempt to join hands with the PDP or BJP to form the government, leaving Vohra with no choice but to impose Governor's rule.
This will be the fourth time in the last 10 years that a Governor's rule is imposed in Jammu and Kashmir.
[With inputs from IANS]
