Jammu and Kashmir: BJP played no role in Assembly dissolution, says Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said that that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had no role in the dissolution of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly by Governor Satya Pal Malik on Wednesday evening. “The BJP has no role. It is unfortunate that some section is trying to drag the BJP into this,” Rajnath Singh told the Hindustan Times.

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“The governor of Jammu and Kashmir took the decision after considering the political situation there; he reached to a conclusion that government formation was not possible in the state,” Rajnath Singh said.  “It was a decision taken by the governor. The BJP has no role. It is unfortunate that some section is trying to drag the BJP into this,” he said.

The home minister questioned former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti’s claim of having secured the support of the Congress. “Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad has made a statement that suggests his party had not supported PDP’s bid to form the government. Why did he make that statement if Mufti was right,” Singh asked.

The state has been under governor’s rule since June.

“The governor, it looks, felt there was not a situation where any party had the numbers to form the government,” he said.

Jammu and Kashmir witnessed an intense political drama on Wednesday after Mehbooba Mufti claimed to form a coalition government with sworn enemies, the National Conference and the Congress finally resulting in the dissolution of the state Legislative Assembly by Governor Satya Pal Malik.

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Mehbooba Mufti’s efforts to form a government got a boost after former deputy chief minister and senior Peoples Democratic Party leader Muzaffar Hussain Baig openly supported the third front. “I would leave the party if the third front emerges,” Baig said addressing a press conference in Srinagar on Tuesday. According to Baig, the PDP failed to live up to its vision.