On Friday the Lok Sabha passed a statutory resolution approving President’s Rule in Jammu and Kashmir. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh told the House the Centre had no alternative because no party or alliance had staked a claim to form a government after the PDP-BJP coalition ended.

The government’s case

Replying to the debate, Singh said that before recommending President’s Rule he had asked the governor whether any party or group was ready to form a government. He added that former governor NN Vohra had reported in June that no party had shown any intention of doing so. Singh said the BJP had never tried to split parties or encourage horse-trading, prompting opposition members to ask if the BJP and the Centre had not attempted to install a government led by Sajjad Lone. He said the government was committed to elections in the state, adding that the timing was for the Election Commission to decide.

Opposition objections

Former chief minister Farooq Abdullah of the National Conference said whether an alternative government was possible should have been tested on the floor of the Assembly, not at the governor’s residence. He alleged the Assembly was dissolved just as the PDP was trying to form a government with Congress and NC support, and mocked reports that the fax machine and telephones at the governor’s residence had stopped working. Voicing concern at the situation in the Valley, he said a way had to be found to talk to Pakistan. “For the sake of India, Kashmir needs to be given priority,” he said.

Shashi Tharoor of the Congress asked why the governor had not held a floor test and whether he had put his reasons on paper as the Supreme Court’s SR Bommai ruling requires, and urged the government to share them with Parliament. Saugata Roy of the Trinamool, NK Premachandran of the RSP and Supriya Sule of the NCP also questioned how the Assembly was dissolved, opposed President’s Rule and called for early elections.

What happened next

In August 2019 Parliament ended Jammu and Kashmir’s special status under Article 370 and the state was reorganised into two union territories. In the 2024 assembly election the National Conference won 42 seats, the BJP 29, the Congress 6 and the PDP 3, and Omar Abdullah became Chief Minister.

See also: Elections · Bharatiya Janata Party

Originally published on 29 December 2018. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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