BJP hints at government formation in J&K, Omar Abdullah rings horse-trading bells

As the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hinted at new government formation in Jammu and Kashmir after it snapped ties with the PDP, Opposition National Conference leader and former CM Omar Abdullah raised horse-trading concerns and demanded fresh elections in the Valley.

Former state deputy CM and BJP leader Kavinder Gupta on Wednesday said that though there were uncertainties in government formation in Jammu and Kashmir, his party was “working on something”.

Reacting to Gupta’s remark, Abdullah said that BJP’s only “something” would be to break other parties by indulging in horse-trading and demanded the J&K Assembly be resolved as soon as possible.

“What do you mean “we are working on something”? The only “something” would be to break other parties & make up the numbers to form a BJP Govt. Has the former DCM inadvertently spilled the beans?” the former CM tweeted.

“The J&K state assembly should be dissolved immediately & fresh elections should take place as soon as appropriate. The former DCM has admitted that BJP can’t be trusted not to horse trade for Govt formation.”

Be it Gujarat Rajya Sabha elections of Karnataka Assembly elections, the BJP has been accused by the Opposition parties of electoral malpractices such as poaching.

Numbers nowhere in BJP’s favour, not even close to halfway mark

In the 87-member Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, where 44 is the halfway mark, the BJP has only 25 seats, while the PDP has 28. In such a scenario, the Saffron party would need at least 19 more seats to form the government.

However, The National Conference (15 seats) and Congress (12 seats) were highly unlikely to support the BJP. However, the seven others MLAs could land their support to the BJP but that still doesn’t help the party to reach the halfway mark of 44 to form the government.