New Delhi:
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday welcomed Governor Satya Pal Malik’s decision to dissolve the state assembly after he revealed that the Centre wanted him to make Sajad Lone the chief minister of the state.
“I really don’t know what to make of Governor Sb revelations in Gwalior. We know the BJP & it’s proxies were desperate to form a government through horse trading & use of money but we’ve also never known a politically appointed governor going against the wishes of the centre, Abdullah tweeted.
I really don’t know what to make of Governor Sb revelations in Gwalior. We know the BJP & it’s proxies were desperate to form a government through horse trading & use of money but we’ve also never known a politically appointed governor going against the wishes of the centre.
— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) November 27, 2018
He added: “My compliments to Governor Malik for not looking to Delhi & for not taking their instructions thereby stopping the installation of a government of the BJP & it’s proxies formed by horse trading, defections & use of money.”
Also Read | Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik: New Delhi wanted Sajjad Lone as CM
Mufti also praised Malik for taking the move.
“Leaving aside the fax machine fiasco , good to see that governor Sb refused to take dictation from Delhi , rather opted for dissolution of assembly. This could be unprecedented, given the story of democracy in the state,” she tweeted.
Leaving aside the fax machine fiasco , good to see that governor Sb refused to take dictation from Delhi , rather opted for dissolution of assembly. This could be unprecedented, given the story of democracy in the state.
— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) November 27, 2018
Addressing a function in Gwalior on Saturday, the governor reportedly said he dissolved the state Assembly as he did not want to go down in history as a "dishonest man".
During a pre-convocation academic conclave of ITM University in Gwalior, Malik said, "Delhi ki taraf dekhta toh muje Lone ki sarkar banana padhti aur mein ithihas mein ek bayiman aadmi ke tor pe jata...(Had I looked to Delhi, I would have had to install a government led by Lone, and history would have remembered me as a dishonest man)."
Also Read | J-K: Let PDP go to court, I will prove my numbers, Sajjad Lone
"Therefore, I ended up the matter. Whosoever wants to scold, can do so now but I am convinced that whatever I did, was right," he said in his address after noted journalist Ravish Kumar had pointed out in his speech about faulty fax machine.
Interestingly, the Governor said Lone had also sent a letter to form the government but not to his PA but to the PA of the erstwhile Governor NN Vohra.
I was first to call up the Governor: Lone
Lone, meanwhile, said he was the first to call up Malik to tell him about his intention to stake claim to form the government in the state.
“I want to put the record straight. On that particular day when we all staked a claim, I was the first one to talk to him on the phone and tell him that I want to stake a claim for government formation,” Lone said.
“The fax would not go through,” Lone said. “I called the governor’s secretary who had earlier put me on to the governor. He would not take the call. For three hours, we tried and could not get through to any of the numbers of the Raj Bhawan.”
Jammu and Kashmir witnessed an intense political drama on Wednesday after 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 Malik.
