National Conference (NC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) praised J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik on Tuesday for “stalling” the Centre’s move to install Peoples Conference (PC) chief Sajad Lone as the new Chief Minister.
Mr. Malik, however, has denied any pressure from the Centre.
“I really don’t know what to make of Governor sahib’s revelations in Gwalior. We know the BJP and its proxies were desperate to form a government through horse trading and use of money, but we’ve also never known a politically appointed Governor going against the wishes of the Centre,” said former Chief Minister and NC vice-president Abdullah.
His statement came after Mr. Malik’s remarks in Gwalior hinting that the Centre intended to install Mr. Lone as Chief Minister. Mr. Malik dissolved the Assembly on November 21 after PDP and PC staked claims to form a government.
“My compliments to Governor Malik for not looking to Delhi and for not taking their instructions, thereby stopping the installation of a government of the BJP and its proxies formed by horse trading, defections and use of money,” Mr. Abdullah said.
Former Chief Minister and PDP president Mehbooba also reacted to Mr. Malik’s remarks. “Leaving aside the fax machine fiasco, good to see that Governor sahib refused to take dictation from Delhi, rather opted for dissolution of assembly. This could be unprecedented, given the story of democracy in the state.”
“Vilification campaign”
Reacting to Mr. Malik’s fresh statement, Mr. Lone said he “cannot allow a misrepresentation of facts on a daily basis and this vilification and distortion campaign has to end.”
“I have been seeing for the last three to four days that there has been a misrepresentation of facts and gross distortion of certain events that unfolded in J&K by some people and unfortunately, especially the Governor. I want to put the record straight. 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. The Governor asked me to send a fax. Thereafter, for three hours we tried to unsuccessfully send a fax to the Raj Bhawan,” said Mr. Lone
He said the Governor’s secretary, who had earlier put him through to the Governor, did not take calls. “For three hours we tried and could not get through to any of the numbers of the Raj Bhawan. During this period, a bid to form Government in the form of a letter popped up on social media from Ms. Mufti. Whenever I said that I would stake a claim, it would be done under the ambit of a constitutional provision and would be totally legitimate,” he said.
“My forefathers have lived here, my father lived and sacrificed his life here. I am living here and will live in this society and so will my children. The facts needed to be put on record and it is for others to uphold the truth. We remain committed to offering an alternative to the traditional political system of exploitation, arrogance, entitlement and blackmail. We shall leave no stone unturned to rid the State of the tyranny of dynastic misrule and despotism,” he said.
‘No intervention’
Meanwhile, a Raj Bhavan spokesperson on Tuesday evening clarified that the Governor, while taking the decision to dissolve the Legislative Assembly, “acted in an objective and impartial manner”.
“There was no pressure or any kind of intervention from the Centre in the entire matter and news channels were misinterpreting the Governor’s statement and putting them out of context to convey that there was pressure from the Central government,” said the spokesman.
