Chief minister Mehbooba Mufti had resigned Tuesday evening after the BJP pulled out of the coalition with her party.
New Delhi: Jammu & Kashmir was brought under governor’s rule Wednesday, a day after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) pulled out of its alliance with the PDP and chief minister Mehbooba Mufti resigned, the home ministry said.
Since Jammu & Kashmir enjoys special status under Article 370, the absence of a government places it under governor’s rule, not the President’s. Governor N.N. Vohra has held the reigns in the state previously as well, in the months between former CM Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s death and Mehbooba’s swearing-in.
Vohra had Tuesday recommended the imposition of central rule in his report to President Ram Nath Kovind after the CM’s resignation, and a copy of the report was also forwarded to the home ministry.
The BJP had pulled the plug on the three-year coalition government Tuesday afternoon, saying it had “become impossible to continue in the government in view of the state’s worsening security situation”. BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav blamed the PDP for not being able to restore peace and bring development in the region.
The alliance with the PDP, formed in 2015, had helped the BJP come to power for the first time in the state. However, the two parties have had divergent stands on a range of crucial issues, a fact that often put them on the warpath and stoked persistent doubts about the coalition’s future.
The cracks deepened following the Kathua gang rape and murder as two BJP ministers led protests against the state police probe, which they labelled biased and painted in communal overtones. The BJP also often accused the PDP of having a “soft” approach towards separatists in Kashmir.
As soon as the BJP announced its withdrawal from the alliance, Mehbooba resigned, telling the press that she did not wish to form any more alliances — killing nascent speculation that an alliance with rival National Conference or the Congress, or both, may be in the works to carry the government to its six-year term.