President’s Rule in Jammu and Kashmir : No other option Says Rajnath Singh
The Lok Sabha on Friday adopted a statutory resolution on imposition of President’s Rule in Jammu and Kashmir, with Union home minister Rajnath Singh claiming that the Centre was left with no other option as none of the political parties or alliances had staked claim to form a government after the exit of the PDP-BJP dispensation.
However, former J&K chief minister Farooq Abdullah said whether an alternative government was feasible or not should have been determined not at the residence of the governor, but on the floor of the assembly.
Replying to the debate, Rajnath Singh said before recommending President’s rule he had spoken to the governor and inquired whether any political party or alliance was willing to form a government. The home minister informed the House that even former governor NN Vohra had, in a report in June, said that none of the political parties had expressed any intention to form a government.
Rajnath Singh said BJP never tried to break parties
Rajnath Singh also claimed that the BJP never tried to break parties or engineer horse-trading for a new government, prompting some opposition members to ask whether the Centre and BJP didn’t try to form a government under Sajjad Lone’s leadership. Mr. Singh also said his government was committed to holding elections in the state, adding it was for the Election Commission to take a call on the matter.
Farooq Abdullah (NC) alleged the assembly was dissolved when PDP was trying to form a government with the support of the Congress and NC and sarcastically referred to how the fax machines and telephone started not working at the governor’s residence.
Expressing concern over the deteriorating situation in the Kashmir Valley, he said: “For peace…we have to find some way of talking to the neighbouring country (Pakistan). For the sake of India, Kashmir needs to be given priority. The state has been suffering a lot. It can suffer more. I urge all of you here to please help us get the state back to normal,” he said.
Shashi Tharoor (Congress) said: “Why did the governor not conduct a floor test in the assembly. He also sought to know from the government whether the governor gave reasons in writing as required by the Supreme Court in the SR Bommai case and asked the government to share the reasons with the Parliament.
Saugata Roy (Trinamool), NK Premachandran (RSP) and Supriya Sule (NCP) also questioned the manner in which the assembly was dissolved, opposed the imposition of President’s rule and demanded early elections in J&K .
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